Colors: Gold and Silver
by Black Die
Summary: "For a moment, Kieran wondered what his importance was in the teal-haired duelist's eyes. After all, everyone knew that he still hadn't gotten over Atticus…" AtticusxZanexOCxAster. Love rectangle. Ends in two pairings.
1. E1: The One Who Succeeds Yugi

Gold and Silver

Note: This story has a brother in **Black and Red**. The two follow different pairings (Idolshipping and Aster vs Rivalshipping and Bastion) by going through the show and focusing on a different class. Some parts of this masterpiece is actual dialogue from the dub (mostly taken from other fanfics where I can but also handfuls transcribed since I haven't yet found anywhere to actually give the show transcript including dialogue), others entirely my own work (ie anything involving my two characters Kieran and Sora), and a handful a mix of the two (such as Sora's eventual duel against Taniya). Updates will be rather slow as a result (due to the results of it being canon, it's already a pain to write, never mind that it's two different stories) and chapters will vary in length (though one chapter will equal one episode unless otherwise indicated). The entire first and second seasons will be explored (I don't like Dark World), so be prepared to deal with me for (roughly) 104 chapters (or 208 if you're being technical!) Between the stories, the chapters are titled similarly, and this is because the two are meant to contrast each other by having one as the literal translation of the Japanese name and the other as the given English name for the dub. In cases with the later episodes of the second season (ones that do not involve one party at all), I may include a filler chapter in the meantime or simply call it a day and not put up a companion update for the other story, in which case I will place both titles under the correct fic.

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><p>For this chapter, some of the dialogue comes from the story <span>Chazz it up? Yeah, I Don't Think So<span> by **NightcrawlerXalpha**. I attempted to fix any and all inconsistencies from the actual dub caused by the fact that it was both A) a fanfiction and B) also involved another character inserted into the scene, but I doubt I managed to find everything. I DIDN'T BORROW THE STUFF TO BE A JERK AND STEAL IDEAS, I DID IT BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT TO HAVE TO TRANSCRIBE MOST OF AN EPISODE MYSELF!

This is the translation of the Japanese title for Episode 1. The English-dub instead uses "The Next King of Games".

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. Why? BECAUSE THERE'S NO GAY SEX OR RELATIONSHIPS, THAT'S WHY!

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><p>Chapter One: The One Who Succeeds Yugi<p>

"Hey Zane," Kieran murmured softly, "can I talk to you for a moment?"

The teal-haired boy sighed, throwing a cold look with his blue eyes to the boy with the deep goldenrod Ra jacket and spotless white pants, the soft jade eyes and silky chin-length luteous blond hair. He should have been able to watch the entrance duels here with Alexis, but the subtle pleading of those eyes compelled him. Kieran had been a close friend since childhood, the pair both going to the same school and developing their decks alongside each other, so if the younger wanted to talk to him, he saw no reason to stop him. Kieran had proved many times over that, despite an age gap of almost two years, the blond would never hesitate to chase after the elder, and luckily enough, he had the intelligence and cards to keep up. "Of course, Kieran."

"I meant privately," he added, giving a pointed look to Alexis. It wasn't that he didn't trust the blonde, well it was partly that, but it was that he felt this was something meant for Zane's ears alone.

"Of course," the Truesdale replied diplomatically, letting the sixteen-year-old lead him through a maze of hallways, familiar with the layout only because he had explored it in his nervousness and pausing only when he felt certain they had walked far enough away to ensure they would not be overheard by any even in a passing chance. "Is this about your birthday being today, Kieran?" he asked softly.

"A little," his friend admitted softly, focusing his gaze on the wall, his hands, the edge of his jacket as he fiddled with it nervously. It was their last year at Duel Academy—Zane being able to graduate with his schooling completed while Kieran had entered school early because his parents had taken advantage of his birthday being only a day before the new school term (which meant if he had been born any later, he would have been forced into going to school the following year despite already being able to read simple words) by enrolling him in Kindergarten as one of the youngest students and then skipped third grade due in no small part to tutoring from Zane, an intelligent student himself; as a result of this studiousness, it was almost guaranteed that he would be allowed to complete his intended request of finishing out the remainder of his education online while he traveled with the elder—and they both wanted to make it count. "It's about… feeling left out."

"How so?" Zane asked. The pair had been isolated from many by Zane's status and Kieran's loyalty, but never before had the blond voiced any concerns about the situation. It was well known the pair were close, almost to the point where several students had called into question their sexual orientation. As a matter of fact, Zane had come out to Kieran a few years ago, admitting that he preferred the company of men to women, but the blond had yet to figure out his own preferences.

"I'm sixteen," he admitted, "and I've never had a girlfriend, or boyfriend," he added that last part in a very admittance of his bi-curious nature, "or been kissed. Hell, I've never so much as had a _crush _on anyone since Yusuke Fujiwara disappeared three years back!"

"Neither have I," the other duelist murmured self-consciously. "Not since…" He trailed off, unwilling to finish his sentence for the pain. He then turned his attention back to his friend, hoping for a distraction, and found Kieran biting his lip in a nervous habit he hadn't indulged in for quite a few years, fidgeting under the weight of the words dancing on the tip of his normally-sharp tongue. It was in that sudden flash, watching him nibble on pink flesh, that Zane realized what he wanted. _He… he wants me to kiss him. But why me? Kieran told me more than a few times back when I'd first admitted my sexuality to him that we're too alike to pursue a relationship, mostly because of my dominating nature and his own hero-complex… Besides, all the boys he went for were the more feminine ones, and I'm about as far from that as you can get._

_But hell if I'm going to be the one to deny him what I want just as much as he seems to. _The Cyber duelist leaned forward, jerking the Magician duelist into his body and capturing his mouth with his own. He waited patiently through that period of time where his partner had frozen in surprise, trying not to take the lack of response to heart, but he didn't have long to wait before Kieran's lips shyly attempted to copy the movements bestowed upon himself. The two made an awkward couple, Zane's height forced the smaller to push up on his toes and even then he had to bend a little to connect their mouths, but for once, he did not mind. Kieran would take a while to hit puberty, but in the meantime, Zane could wait for him. He was worth it.

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><p>"What were you two talking about that took so long, Zane?" Alexis demanded when they finally made it back, the Obelisk looking as collected as ever even if there was a hint of a blush dusted across the Ra's cheekbones.<p>

"It's nothing, Alexis," he assured her, already knowing his friend would only get tongue-tied if he tried to answer the question.

"Did Syrus win his duel?" Kieran asked, having already scanned the fields and deduced that the outcome of the younger Truesdale's duel had been decided while he was…

"That blue-haired boy with the Vehicroid monsters? Yeah, he won."

Kieran hid a smile, his eyes turning to the field where the boy he'd watched grow up had found his courage again (or so he hoped anyway). _I'm glad Sy won, it's about time he and Zane made up._ "So who's on now?"

"Bastion Misawa, the boy who apparently got the highest score on the written exam," Alexis answered.

Seeing Kieran's frown, Zane couldn't help but feel a tinge of pride that his friend had managed the same feat at the age of thirteen. _He's nothing compared to us. Dueling's about more than knowing the cards to make a deck… it's about knowing how to use the ones in your own._

The two males stood side by side, settling in to watch their world change before their very eyes. For a brief moment, Kieran wondered exactly what his own importance was in the teal-haired duelist's eyes. After all, everyone knew he hadn't gotten over Atticus, it was obvious in the way the Obelisk would retreat to the lighthouse most days without fail, even if he did allow the other to accompany him. Forcibly pushing aside these feelings of negativity, he turned his mind back to the duel, right in time to hear the duel proctor mockingly ask "All right new guy, multiple choice. You got two monsters staring you down. Do you A) Throw in the towel? B) Beg for mercy ? Or C) Run home to mama?"

Kieran let out a soft growl at the man as he rested his head on the left elbow that was balancing on the railing he stood by, vaguely remembering this scumbag from his own test duel. _You'd think he would have learned not to count his Life Points before the spell's activated, especially after my Silent Magician sent him packing._ His right hand fell to the gold plastic duel case strapped to the front of his belt, the entirety of the cards all ones he'd chosen himself and only a few obtained since his first duel. He trusted his cards, so why bother changing them? He knew how the ones he had worked in conjunction with each other, and so long as he kept up with that, the exact point of adding a useless card into his deck was moot. It would only make his likelihood of drawing an actual useful card lower.

To Kieran's surprise, the boy didn't seem anxious about the challenge presented to him. "I'll go with D) None of the above."

His facedown card Ring of Destruction activated then, causing the proctor to gasp "A trap?"

"No duh moron," the blond muttered to himself. "Of course it's a trap. You should know by now that red cards are trap cards, especially since that's all you could use in our duel."

"Calm down, Kieran," Zane murmured to the Ra, their conversation overlaying the ravenet's explanation of what the card did. "Some people never learn."

The younger boy watched as, even after the explosion knocked the man's Life Points to zero, he still acted like an ass, saying "Clever move applicant, welcome to the academy." His hand fisted over the deck, longing to beat the asshole and teach him once again why even kids from humble origins could be powerful enough to deserve respect.

Zane noted this tension and subtly reached over to rub circles on the other's hand using his thumb. It was in Kieran's nature to stand up for such injustices, but Zane could see that the male Bastion already had things well in hand. Indeed, a sarcastic "Thank you, o wise proctor" was not long in coming.

"Settle down," he whispered into Kieran's ear, seeing that the smaller boy was still agitated. "You don't want to miss the next duel, do you?"

"Actually," the Ra stated with a wry laugh as he pulled away, his worn silver converses scuffing the floor beneath him, "I just remembered I still have a paper I need to finish before classes begin again. If I don't get back to the island now, I'll be up all night finishing it." Without turning around, his hand came up, two fingers raised as he sent them from right to left. "See you later Zane, it was nice meeting you, Alexis."

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><p>Zane: ... Why did you put this seperately again?<p>

Because it's basically two different storylines!

Zane: I disagree.

NO ONE ASKED YOU!

Zane: They did. *points at audience*

... *glares at him* Review if you wanna spank Zane!

Zane: Wait, what?

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><p>Last edited: 925/2011


	2. E2: Welcome to Duel Academy

Gold and Silver

You know, just for the record, I deserve a prize for putting up a chapter of this. I mean, come on, Zane isn't even IN this episode, and since the story sorta revolves around him, I didn't have anything to really work with here...

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><p>This is the title of the English-dub for Episode 2. Its Japanese version translates to "Flame Wingman".<p>

Parts of this chapter came from Hidden Eyes Telling Lies by **Queen of Briannia**. I took the dialogue for bits in the actual show because I really didn't want to transcribe it all. I'm not that kind of person (I got my first taste of it with these new chapters, and by Ra, it was horrible!).

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><p>Chapter Two: Welcome to Duel Academy<p>

Kieran sighed, putting aside his thin tweezers from where he'd been using them to tweak a handful of sensitive wires, and turned his attention out towards the ocean, the sea breeze ruffling his golden hair across his face, relenting only where the hair was trapped between his back and the smooth siding of the lighthouse he leaned against. He had finished the paper rather quickly, but he just couldn't get the formula right on his eyepiece, so he was still years away from completing his personal project. He bit his lip, wishing he knew a proper computer genius who had no problems helping him refine his design, but the problem lay in, not that it wouldn't read the cards, but that it wouldn't hide the card names from him if he activated a duel disk other than his own personal one. He could have abided by that except that his duel disk was something that desperately needed to be replaced but that he had to hold onto since he spent every spare yen he could keeping his dream alive by buying spare computer parts, more hard drive space, and little notebooks he would record duels in. Building a proper AI was hard work he hadn't even begun, yet he was already having problems with a simple _card-recorder_.

Sighing again, he picked up the tweezers from his lap and began moving about a thin yellow wire, glad that Zane had given him the—rather expensive—tool kit for his birthday the year before when he'd first begun work on the eyepiece. Hmm, maybe if he programmed the reader to enact a certain code when a reader on the duel disk itself activated, it would work. Of course, that would make the high-tech e-reader function of his device pointless…

"Problems Kieran?" Despite the suddenness of the voice on a usually-deserted part of the island, he didn't need to turn around to see who it was distracting him from his work.

"Just the same one I've been working on for weeks, Zane," he answered. "If only I had a new disk…"

"Wish granted," the Obelisk replied, pulling Kieran's left hand back from where it was steadying the delicate silver instrument he was working on with its handsome translucent gold screen and returning the appendage with a well-kept Academy disk, yellow. "Happy birthday, Kieran."

"Oh, Zane, it's… beautiful," he murmured, smiling at the sight of the yellow streaks. "How'd you get it?"

The teal-haired duelist shrugged, settling himself down beside the Ra. "Mom and Dad got me a new disk, so I took my old one and traded it out. I would've simply given it to you, but I figured you'd rather have one that matched your color scheme, so I asked Crowler to give me a Ra disk rather than my Obelisk."

"I bet that made his day," the blond remarked off-handedly as he gave the hardware a quick check to make sure he hadn't destroyed something before he put the gutted device back together only to turn to his beat-up old KaibaCorp duel disk, one of the original ones that he had bought thoroughly secondhand, unable to justify purchasing an Academy Disk when he had first come to the school, a decision that had benefited him when he was able to use that money to get the first parts for his scanner.

"It certainly startled him," Zane acknowledged, watching as the other shamelessly tore apart his faithful disk for the all-important disguise chip he'd installed. Sure, the old thing had held up well over the years, but he had to admit that other than a backup, it wouldn't be able to serve him anymore.

He patiently waited for the other male to finish what he was doing, triumphantly plucking the green microchip from the twist of machinery with the tweezers and then reverently taking apart the top of the new disk to carefully insert it into the neater insides. "Huh, this setup looks a little less sturdy," he noted to himself, a corner of his mouth pulling back. "I guess they just don't make 'em like they used to. I'll have to remember that whenever I have some adjustments in mind."

Zane rolled his eyes, already knowing that the Ra'd have designed a better core system for the gift within a month. "So have you seen Syrus yet?" he asked, making small talk.

Kieran gave the elder a strange look. Zane never, _never, _made small talk. "No, not yet," he answered. "He's going to have to learn how to stand up for himself someday, and if you keep knocking away his self-esteem by 'protecting' him," the air quotes were blatantly understood even if the younger didn't explicitly make the movement, "he'll never learn."

"I seem to recall a certain blond who never really started dueling until he came here," Zane teased gently.

"And _I _seem to recall that the first revenge duel that blond had was against a certain teal-haired Obelisk… and won."

"Touché," the Truesdale acknowledged. They sat in companionable silence for a long moment, broken only by the sounds of metal on metal as the Ra explored his new equipment before putting it back together. Finally Zane had to clear the air and damn the consequences. "Listen, Kieran, I-"

"I gotta go, Zane," he interrupted, getting to his feet and clipping his eyepiece on. "I wanna watch some of the newcomers duel, and I can't do that if I'm sitting around here, now can I?"

"Wait, Kieran!" he called, but his friend had already run off. Scowling, he glared heatedly at a rock. "I just wanted to talk to you about the kiss…" he muttered to himself, his ultramarine hair shading his eyes. "I wanted you to know that it didn't change anything unless you wanted it to…"

He sighed deeply, staring out at the ocean. First Atticus had disappeared, and now Kieran was running away from him. It was like the universe was determined to screw with his love life and keep him from happiness. _Still… at least I got to kiss Kieran before I graduated. If I hadn't done it… I would have wondered what would have happened if I had acted on my feelings for the rest of my life._

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><p>Kieran put his pen and notepad into his pocket, finally conceding that the only thing that covered the paper he was supposed to be compiling notes on for the duelists he was watching instead held the embodiment of his current distraction. <em>Zane Zane Zane Zane Zane Zane Zane.<em> He snapped out of his mood when he heard a soft ding in his ear, the one that signaled he had a message. He reached up and tapped a button on his earpiece, causing the gold screen to be covered in the silver text he had preset for a duelist he'd first met a few years back when he was searching around on some online dueling sites. All he had on the other was his username, **ForeverHero**, and all he had given the other was his own, _Magician'sKey_. The two seemed to be a similar age and had gotten along so well while exploring the dueling sites that they had exchanged email addresses. Right there in his eye appeared the words **What're you doing?**

He dug around in his other pocket, pulling out the same PDA he'd received in his first year. _Not much,_ he typed on the screen with a soft touch. _You?_

It only took a moment for a reply to the message he'd added to the list to appear. **I'm inbetween gigs right now.**

Kieran bit his lip, deciding that, since he was already planning on blowing off the Ra welcome dinner and going back to his dorm tonight (he kept a lot of his equipment out in the abandoned dorm and was actually one of the few people on campus to routinely venture near the decrepit building), he would unload some of his problems. _Hey Hero, can I ask you for some advice?_

**Of course, Key. I've asked you enough questions myself.** ForeverHero had a close friend of his who was a homophobe, which ended up with the other, a bisexual as far as they had shared though he certainly leaned towards males like Zane did, asking for a lot of support as far as that was concerned.

… _How do you respond to a gay friend who kisses you when you don't know your own sexuality?_

The screen was quiet for a moment, evidence that Kieran had chosen the right person to ask. ForeverHero may not have known him personally, but the other certainly put honest thought into his advice. To be honest, Kieran almost wanted to meet his cyber companion, no matter how dangerous it was in the current situation. No one, not even Zane, knew of his conversations with Hero, and he was content to keep it that way. **Do you like him back?**

Kieran paused, biting his lip. Did he? Zane was attractive, that he could not deny, and thoughtful. They had been friends a long time, and if there was anyone he could picture at his side, it would be the Cyber duelist. Still, Zane was also a dominating person by nature, and Kieran was more of a protector, something that would often cause friction between the two when they were in close quarters for too long a period of time. _'I don't know'_ he typed into the PDA, but his finger hovered over the send button, hesitating as he remembered a certain detail. _Yes._

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><p>Kieran yawned, stretching as he realized exactly how late he'd stayed in the Duel Arena talking back and forth to Hero and entertaining himself with some lesser duels while he waited for the other to come back from some business. He blinked, realizing with a sudden jolt that there were two people on the duel field, a black-haired Obelisk duelist and a brown-haired Slifer. He frowned, berating himself for having missed the duel with the student who was rumored to have defeated Crowler on his first day. <em>Sorry Hero, got to go, there's something demanding my attention right now and I can't ignore it.<em> Without waiting for a reply, he closed down the chat box, focusing on the field.

In front of the brunet stood an E-Hero Flame Wingman, while the ravenet had a facedown and an E-Hero Sparkman that had just been destroyed, the former dealing the latter's attack points as damage.

"All right!" Syrus cheered, and Kieran resisted the urge to wave to the smaller kid, instead focusing on the card that had just flipped up, along with the oncoming explanation from its owner.

"Nice moves Jaden," Alexis congratulated.

"More like lucky moves, you Slifer school scum," this opponent retorted scathingly. "All right, I activate Chthonian Blast! Now, since you destroyed one of my monsters, I can destroy one of yours, and you take damage equal to half of its attack points." The Wingman was burst into pieces, as Kieran watched a little countdown in his eyepiece drop to 550 Life Points.

"Ugh, Flame Wingman," Jaden groaned, shielding his face with his forearm.

"Now I activate the trap card Call of the Haunted! It lets me select one monster card from my Graveyard and summon it back to the field in attack mode. Rise, Infernal Warrior, but he won't be staying on the field for long because I'm going to sacrifice him to summon Mefist the Infernal General."

"Not bad," the brunet, Jaden, commented.

"Not bad?" He smirked. "You're something else, slacker, you know that? Acting all confident, but your lousy monsters won't get you out of this jam," the Obelisk mocked.

The Slifer looked at his hand, saying "I know he's wrong, Kuriboh, because Chazz doesn't know that my monsters and I, we have a bond" as he drew a card.

Alexis looked aside, then back, and Kieran knew what she was hearing. Guards, and lots of them. Eyes wide, he ducked down, slithering along the floor because he knew that, if he could just get to a control panel, he could pass off his presence by claiming to have been doing maintenance on the field, something he had done every now and again as a favor to Chancellor Sheppard. "Uh, guys, we got company: campus security. If they find us all in here we'll be seriously busted." Alexis continued. As the monsters faded, Kieran turned his eyepiece off, tuning out the rest of the conversation in favor of his own breathing. He would have to be stealthy to pull this off, and dammit, he had wanted to see how the duel ended too. The two duelists seemed like excellent additions to his repertoire.

Instead, he took advantage of his concealment to steal out of the arena like a thief, striding back into the woods. He couldn't wait to upload the files into the computer database and see what it generated for the remainder of the decks. When he pressed the button on his earpiece to give the eye a soft glow (slight night vision had been an addition when he realized that it got really dark on the island after dusk and he'd gotten tired of tripping over things as he made his way back to his dorm room from either the forest or the lighthouse with Zane), he saw that he had a message waiting for him from Hero. **So? **he'd asked, **How'd it go?**

Kieran chuckled wryly, unable to resist replying to that. _You know, an interruption is a beautiful thing._

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><p>Zane: ... I'm not even gonna ask.<p>

WHEEE, I HAD A GUEST APPEARANCE IN THIS ONE!

Zane: ...

*smiles* If you would prefer never to again see the character behind **ForeverHero** until his actual appearance, then I suggest you not leave me a review.

Zane: ...

I'm serious. Don't review and I will have them avoid each other.

Zane: ... Just shut up.

... Kay. I'mma go watch the new episode of YGOAGX. SHADYVOX IS BACK AGAIN, AND I AM SO GLAD TO SEE HIM!

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><p>Last edited: 925/2011


	3. E3: Etoile Cyber

Gold and Silver

... I just realized that Zane's still Hell Kaiser at the end of season 2... I guess if I get that far, I'm going to have to change things up. I don't know, maybe if I get some people encouraging me and I'm not ready to just drop this project, I might go further... even though I REALLY don't want to watch Aster and Zane die... I'll figure that out later. Either way, Kieran's in for a rocky road...

And one last note. Please remember that this story is meant to be read alongside **Black and Red**. Sure, the plots won't interact much, but later on, I figure it would be nice to know both sides of the story, especially on things like Zane dueling Jaden or Hell Kaiser's duel with Syrus. Yeah. That's going to be fun to write in stereo...

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><p>The duel manuscript part in this chapter comes from the official Yu-Gi-Oh! GX wikipedia page. As such, there is no dialogue for me to steal, only moves which I took so that I wouldn't have to watch the episode and transcribe moves alone.<p>

This is the translation of the Japanese title for Episode 3. The English-dub instead uses "A Duel in Love".

I obviously do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, otherwise Zane and Aster never would have died. Such hotness needs to be preserved for later generations. The only thing I own is Kieran.

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><p>Chapter Three: Etoile Cyber<p>

It was **ForeverHero** who woke Kieran in the morning, much to his displeasure. He knew it was a bad idea to sleep with his gear on, but he was so busy that often he found himself waking up with no idea of exactly when he had fallen asleep. **You know, many people would disagree with you about the topic, myself included. When the interruption is your best friend come to remind you of exactly why loving another man is a sin, it is by no means welcome.**

Kieran couldn't contain a chuckle, the mental image of a petulant child with hands on his hips coming to his mind's eye. He reached for his PDA where he'd set it on the bedside table, getting up off the light blue sheets that had been there when he'd first taken over the room and pushing back the white comforter that he kept handsomely clean. _Or when the interruption happens to come while you're in the middle of dreaming about _He paused here, not quite sure what to put. It wasn't that he couldn't remember what he had been dreaming about, oh no he could do that _perfectly _well, but it was more… the personal nature of what he had been exploring in his subconscious that had him hesitating, but he still typed in the final words, _having sex with your childhood friend._

… **Okay, what the hell did you do last night?**

Kieran laughed aloud, pausing in where he was changing into some of the spare uniforms he kept in the closet of what had once been Zane's room. _Not fucking my best friend if that's what you're asking. I uploaded some data and went to sleep._

**Very funny, Key, I kind of figured that. I was actually asking because I wanted to know what could possibly demand so much of your attention that you had to leave me in the middle of our conversation and then cause you to have such a sensual dream.**

Kieran snorted, yanking on the collar of his goldenrod jacket. _If you must know, Hero, I was watching a duel._

He looked at his reflection in a dusty mirror, seeing the golden creature he was and making a face. He was so much smaller compared to Zane, gentler and more feminine, but he didn't want to be the one submitting all the time. Still… it would be nice to have someone take care of him for once. _I think I'll tell him today, I think he deserves to know._

**Know what?** his friend typed back. **That you were watching a duel last night?**

_No!_ he replied hotly. _No, I wanted to tell him that I'm going to give him the chance I denied him three years ago. Wish me luck!_ He signed off, running out of the dorm and proving just a moment too late to see the message that had been sent back.

**I hope you find happiness in whatever it is you decide to do, Key.** After a moment, another line joined it. **I… I know that, whoever it is you're confessing to, he's damn lucky to have you, Key, so damn lucky.**

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><p>On the other end of the conversation, pale fingers paused over the enter key of the slender laptop, the words <strong>I wish I was<strong> hanging there in the chat box waiting patiently to be sent. Hero had first met Key on a website with some deck ideas, where the other had been a major contributor with insightful words added to almost every design on the site. They had first gotten in contact through a debate over a particular card in a certain deck theme, the very one he himself used, and the debate had been surprisingly entertaining, so much so that he found himself, once they had ended the conversation, arguing the aesthetics of a few of the other cards Key had recommended or alternatively discouraged. Eventually, the pair had grown so fond of each other that they exchanged information to an IM account and become friends. Still, he could remember clearly exactly when he'd realized he liked Magician'sKey as more than just a playful companion. Key had been talking about his best friend, who happened to have a crush on him, and he had felt jealousy of the kind he'd only felt once before in his life when he'd been very young and unable to realize why his own friend had this Mom character in his life and he himself didn't. As if that hadn't been enough to convince him, that night's dream had featured a boy cosplaying as Dark Magician Girl, one of the cards Key was particularly fond of and had even compiled an entire deck for. He'd woken up the next morning to soiled bedsheets and no end to the teasing from his mirror.

And yet, for all the reasons he had for pressing that button and letting his virtual love know his feelings, he could not quite find the audacity to lower his finger those few millimeters to press against the key that mocked him with its forwards arrow. "I'm a fool," he whispered, bringing his hand back. "But I suppose if any should play the part of the fool, it is only fitting that it be I."

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><p>Zane's head jerked up at the knock on his door, his eyes revealing bleary intelligence as his neurons attempted to transmit properly in this first moment of consciousness. "Atty?" he murmured without thinking, stumbling to the door, a collision with a rebellious bedpost correcting the misfire that had informed him Atticus had returned. No, the person who was likely behind the door was one who he was just as desperate to see. "Kieran!" he cried, wrenching the door open and yanking the Ra into his room and his embrace, slamming the painted wood shut with his elbow.<p>

The blond in question looked exhausted (to be expected since he had slept rather restlessly, his mind pre-occupied with this when he wasn't chatting to ForeverHero) but had bothered to come back to wake Zane up in the morning and make sure he didn't miss the class they shared first thing in the morning—gym, which they generally skipped and attended later in the day. "Zane," he muttered quietly, his head carefully angled to protect his precious scanner, "I can't breathe."

"Sorry," he offered quietly, loosening his arms but unwilling to let him out of his embrace just yet. Kieran made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat, resting his head on Zane's shoulder for a long moment and unconsciously indulging the other's need to nurture and protect. "Listen, I-" he began, but stopped at the feel of a single finger pressed to his lips, the middle and thumb resting awkwardly against his neck. He let himself fall silent, patiently waiting for the Ra to speak.

"Zane," he sighed finally, lifting his head to meet the other's eyes. "I like you." The Obelisk sighed, already preparing himself for the polite let-down he knew had to be coming. "And that's why I've decided to give us a chance."

The bluenet stared at the blond in shock, pale blue eyes wide with shock, which only grew wider when the boy in his arms replaced his finger with his lips, yanking the taller down by his collar. After a moment to process what was happened, he responded, bringing his hand up to cup the boy's cheek in adoration as he deepened the chaste kiss. He swept his tongue along Kieran's lower lip, the younger shyly parting them to allow him access into his mouth. Instantly, he swept into the presented cavern, his tongue questing and exploring every inch of his partner that it could reach, gently encouraging its counterpart to participate in a tender, lustful dance. Finally, they parted, a quick twist of Zane's tongue causing the string of saliva dangling between them to break.

Unlike Kieran, Zane had dated before, even if it had only been for those who wanted him because of the monsters he commanded rather than the person he was on the inside. The two of them were handsome, that much they knew, but strangely, it had only been Zane who had gathered the attention. Standing beside each other, it was Zane who gained the looks, not Kieran. Only when they were separate had Kieran been attractive, but even then he was not nearly as attractive. Zane's aloofness made him mysterious while Kieran's just made him uncaring. But, as always, it had been Zane who kept Kieran afloat, driving him to keep chasing that bright enigma and even to pursue his own dreams for dueling after admitting that his deck wasn't enough to compete at a professional level.

Kieran had been chased Zane's coattails for so long that the teal-haired duelist couldn't help pausing slightly after each stumble for his companion to catch up and growing fond of the cute way he would chase after the elder as if he was afraid of something behind him. In truth, Kieran _was _frightened, petrified of the voices he sometimes heard around him when he was alone in the abandoned dorm late at night, his viewscreen devoid of idle chat with Hero because the other was caught up in his own business that had him keeping hours just as strange as the Ra and his card lists never far from hand; he heard whispers warning him that the happiness could not last, that things weren't meant to be with the one who dueled with darkness, that he would be hurt unless he ran now from the monstrous machine, that only an antihero could keep despair at bay.

Kieran blinked, surprised to see himself sitting in Zane's desk chair as the sounds of running water reached his ears, one of his cards staring him directly in the face. Magician's Valkyria had been a rather special card to him for a long time, it was the first monster card he'd received (he'd gotten it in a pack of cards Zane had gotten him as a gift when they were young), but there was only one copy of the card in his deck that had the plain yellow siding rather than the blatant orange that it should have been. He shivered, feeling a draft in the room as he slid the card back into his deck case, and raised his head to meet the gaze of a concerned Zane, a deep blue towel riding low on his hips. "You okay?" he asked huskily, ignoring the slight tickle as his wet hair dripped water that trailed over his bare chest.

"Fine," he replied, giving a smile that made his cheeks hurt with its faux sincerity. "Just starting to worry about what Crowler's going to do to us for being late to his class."

"Don't worry about it," Zane soothed, turning his back as he walked into his closet and pulled out a clean uniform, donning it. "I'll just say that you were here tweaking my new duel disk and we lost track of time."

"Thanks," Kieran replied, already knowing Crowler wouldn't reprimand the Cyber duelist since the teal-haired boy was far and away one of his best students, only closely matched in intelligence by the Ra and in dueling prowess by the newcomer Slifer. "I'm probably going to be staying in the abandoned dorm late tonight, you don't mind do you?"

Zane shook his head. "Not at all," he murmured, giving the younger a quick kiss before walking to the door. He understood that Kieran's priorities had to be on fixing the servers he had basically constructed from scratch and created a realistic artificial intelligence for his dream. Kieran would chase his dream and keep up with every duel circuit he could, but that didn't change the fact that Zane thought he would never be able to complete his dream of creating a website for aspiring duelists to duel each other in friendly online competitions. The pro-leagues themselves would shut him down, if not the underground dueling rings. Still, he would never say this aloud to the blond. It would crush his heart.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," Kieran said, kissing Zane's cheek and exiting the room. The teal-haired duelist stared at the door for a long moment before sighing as he buttoned his collar, giving his too-large bed one last forlorn look. He had been hoping he would have Kieran grace the white sheets for once, but instead the boy would no doubt spend the night in that dusty old room in the haunted dorm surrounded by the whirring of his computers rather than the soft breathing of a lover.

* * *

><p>Kieran yawned, looking up from his work on a fried circuit board to the beeping of the eyepiece that rested on the counter by his elbow. Rather than snatch it up, he instead pressed his elbow down on the little white button he'd installed beside him and said "Main screen." He had never regretted installing that voice-operated system in the room, even if it made him feel all the more lonely to hear his voice echo over the walls.<p>

On the screen of the computer, a duel came to life. On one side, a facedown and a Etoile Cyber in attack mode, on the other an Elemental Hero Sparkman ready to attack. Before his very eyes, the card activated, Doble Passe causing both parties to lose Life Points. He set down the tiny screwdriver he was working with at the summon of first Blade Skater and then the fusion summon of Etoile Cyber. He couldn't be sure, but he was fairly certain this was the deck Alexis Rhodes had dueled with, but he couldn't figure out the name of her opponent, even though the destruction of Sparkman had a memory poking at his mind.

Brow furrowing as he watched the activation of a Fusion Gate bring an Elemental Hero Flame Wingman to the field, he wondered if this was the same duelist he'd seen the other night, but he couldn't be sure. A Kishido Spirit kept Wingman safe from being destroyed, but the point of it was rather useless since the equip of Fusion Weapon to Cyber Blader had the feminine monster sending the E-Hero to the Graveyard quickly.

Still, the summon of the Elemental Hero Clayman confused him until he saw the play of Monster Reborn to bring back Sparkman, then fusing the two together to create Elemental Hero Thunder Giant. The new monster's effect destroyed the remaining monster on the other side of the field before wiping out the remainder of Alexis's Life Points. With the duel over, a little window appeared over the screen, asking if he wanted to save the duel. He hit the 'y' key on his keyboard, turning his attention back to his work as the loading bar appeared on the screen. He really wanted to meet this duelist now, this mysterious E-Hero user had enough ability in him to maybe even defeat Zane, the star of his e-duelists. The thought made him shiver. Zane was sexy when he dueled, of that Kieran had no doubt, but it had been a very long time since anyone had beaten him, the Ra himself included in that number. If someone could manage to defeat him… he had a feeling there was no telling just how far he would fall.

* * *

><p>Zane: ... I sound very clingy.<p>

Because you are Zaney!

Zane: ...

Oh come off it, you lost the love of your life and now Kieran leaves you just about every night to sleep with computers. You are the very DEFINITION of lonely.

Zane: ... Shut up.

... And for the record, Kieran has developed insomnia issues. He can't sleep without at least SOME noise going on in the background, hence why Zane asking him to sleep in with him isn't odd. The two usually sleep together when Kieran isn't off tinkering with his projects...

Zane: ... Please, just review so that she'll shut up. She's been ranting for days now about the fact that no one's reviewed, and if it keeps up, I'm going to just strangle her myself and let the story go into hiatus.

... *hits him over the head* ZANEY! APOLOGIZE TO THE READERS!

Zane: What, for telling them the truth?

*hits him again* They don't need to know that!

Zane: ... *walks off*

... *small voice* I feel very abandoned now. *pulls knees up to chin and begins doodling in the dirt*

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><p>Last edited: 925/2011


	4. E4: Raring to Go

Gold and Silver

WHY IS IT SO HARD TO EFFING REVIEW PEOPLE! HONESTLY, YOU'RE MAKING ME WANT TO DISCONTINUE THIS... EVEN THOUGH IT'S MY FAVORITE ONE TO WRITE... *sigh* I guess I'm on my own for this...

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><p>This is the title of the English-dub for Episode 4. Its Japanese version translates to "5 Polymers! VWXYZ".<p>

Today's transcribing comes courtesy of the story Starting Anew by **ani-sand**.

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, otherwise this would have been actual cannon.

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><p>Chapter 4: Raring to Go<p>

Zane blinked as he stared at Kieran, trying to figure out what it was that was missing from his boyfriend, who had awoken before him and was now leaning back against his chest, idly examining the contents of the Cyber duelist's new duel disk even if he was very careful not to remove or damage anything. "You aren't wearing your scanner," he noted, shocked. No matter how hard he thought about it, the only times he had seen the golden screen absent from its position was when it had been removed so that the blond could sleep or when there was some maintenance or upgrades he was applying.

"Yeah," the Magician duelist noted, throwing a glance over to the desk on the far side of the room where he had left the machinery. "I didn't want to bring it to bed with us only to end up falling asleep without taking it off first." _It would have been awkward to be talking to Hero while I'm in bed with Zane… Sure, nothing inappropriate was going on for him to interrupt and even if it was, it's not as if he would know… but still, I just think the two don't mix well._

"I like it," the bluenet murmured, pressing a kiss to the corner of the exposed eye lovingly. "It looks good on you. Lets me see the color of those handsome jade eyes."

"Nice to know you think so," he grumbled in reply even if he did lean into the given affection, "because I'll have you know I feel so damn naked without it."

He couldn't contain a chuckle at that, his breath huffing over the sensitive skin beside Kieran's eye. The blond wriggled in his arms, trying to get away from the tickling sensation but utterly failing since he was also trying to curl himself deeper into Zane's broad chest. "Seriously though, Kieran," Zane said, growing somber once more, "you really do look beautiful without that gold blocking your eye."

He made a face, snatching up the object from the table and snapping it on for protection. He wasn't one for compliments. Something either worked or it didn't, there was no middle ground for him. Zane would pause, think about things for a moment and let something remain if he thought its emotional value or appearance was enough to offset any inconvenience—Kieran knew this with the same kind of certainty that he knew the elder's hair color was naturally teal; when you grew up with someone, you learned things about them, and that was one of the things he'd, unfortunately, discovered about his frie- boyfriend. He had a hard time working _Zane_ and _boyfriend_ together in his mind, but he somehow managed it in the time between when he got out of the bed and when he buttoned his goldenrod jacket over his olive-green shirt. "I'm going to go watch some of the practical tests, you coming?" he asked, seeing that his partner was still in the bed.

"Of course," the bluenet replied, hiding a yawn behind his hand as he got himself out of bed, not in the least bit self-conscious about the fact that he was shirtless even if he did have on a pair of long black pajama pants, "but don't you still have to duel yourself?"

"No," Kieran answered. "I'm taking a puzzle duel instead, no point in kicking some poor Ra's ass or having you intimidate him the first time I take a hit to my Life Points."

"I just don't want to lose you," Zane murmured softly, looking to the side. _I already lost Atty, can you really blame me for wanting to keep you safe where I failed before?_ "I can't help it that seeing you in pain like that triggers my protective side."

"I don't need a savior, Zane," the blond grouched, even if he did give the other boy a fierce kiss. "I just need to be myself."

* * *

><p>Kieran settled himself down at one of the tables, his deck case clanging softly against the edge of the cold plastic chair as he observed the puzzle duel he had to finish. In his hand was <span>Tribute to the Doomed<span>, Luster Dragon #2, Amphibian Beast, Monster Reincarnation, Axe of Despair, Pot of Generosity, Future Fusion, and Overload Fusion. On his field was a Cyberdark Edge, while a Blue-Eyes White Dragon that had been his sat on the other side of the field with a Snatch Steal equipped and a Cyberdark Horn and a Cyberdark Keel sat in his Graveyard. The boy repressed a frown, he always got a chill down his back when he saw the Cyberdark cards, but set to the task anyway. First, he activated Tribute to the Doomed, discarding the Luster Dragon to get rid of the Blue-Eyes, then he summoned the Amphibian Beast. Following a moment to think, he used Monster Reincarnation to return the Edge to his hand and then the Pot of Generosity to place the Keel and Horn into his deck. Future Fusion put all the monsters right back into his Graveyard again, but he didn't keep them there for long with his Overload Fusion bringing out the Cyberdark Dragon, which he placed the Blue-Eyes onto, and then brought the Life Points down to zero.

"Excellent job, Mister Salem," his proctor, none other than Chancellor Sheppard himself, congratulated, "you passed with flying colors. Maybe it _is _you who was meant to wield the Dark Cyber deck."

He looked at the Cyberdark cards again and shuddered visibly this time. Sure, he knew they were intended as the mirrors to the deck his boyfriend dueled with, but he also knew he wanted nothing to do with the machine-type monsters. "I doubt it." He turned his back on the table, instead striding over to the Truesdale and bestowing a kiss to him. "Come on, Zane, I want to get something done before the duels start," he whispered to the taller male, trying to disguise his jump from when the other leaned down to affectionately nip at the shell of his ear.

"Of course," the Obelisk murmured. "I'll even help you put together that skeleton for typing you've been working on."

* * *

><p>Kieran was focused on the numerous duels going on, debating with Zane about the duels they've already seen. The Obelisk thought that the best show he'd seen so far was the one between the red-haired Ra with the Warrior deck and the turquoise-haired Slifer with the Insect deck and the Jinzo*, but the Ra firmly thought that Syrus's duel was the best considering that the boy had improved so much since he'd last seen his boyfriend's little brother.<p>

"I'm dueling an Obelisk? And it's Chazz?" exclaimed a brunet Slifer whose familiarity made Kieran's eyes widen.

He leaned over to Zane, ignoring Crowler. "I've watched these two duel before, they're the ones who were at the Obelisk Arena after hours!" he hissed in an undertone, dropping his hand with the skeleton on it and carefully beginning to remove the slender metal from where it encased his skin.

"Really?" Zane whispered back, his lips occasionally brushing against the Ra's ear and eliciting a slight shudder every time they did. "Jaden Yuki, the Slifer, he's the one who beat Crowler during the entrance exams."

"Well then, I guess that'll make the duel interesting," Kieran replied, emerald eyes sliding over the crowd to see Syrus standing next to a pair of Ras, the ravenet he recognized as Bastion Misawa but the retreating redhead he didn't at all before he discarded the matter as unimportant in this moment, turning his attention back to the duel in time to see a golem take the field.

"You remember this guy don'tcha Chazz? From our first match? Elemental Hero Clayman. He'd like to get reacquainted."

"Not after he sees what I've got for him," Chazz shot back. Don't think for a second that over sized pile of pebbles has a chance against me, Jaden, or against this." He drew, silver eyes flashing over to see the card. "Fresh off the presses, meet Magical Mallet."

"What's that?"

"A redo; all the cards in my hand that I don't want, I put back in my deck, then I shuffle and redraw. Pretty cool, don'tcha think?"

"Wow," Kieran murmured. "I've never seen that card before. It really must be new." _I'll have to update all my card lists now… damn you Maximillion Pegasus!_

"I haven't gotten to the best part!" Chazz crowed as he plucked his new hand from his Disk and revealing another Magical Mallet as the top card. "See, Jaden, I got to re-shuffle Magical Mallet too, so if I draw it again, which I just did, I can play it again and again. And that comes in handy when I'm looking for this: V-Tiger Jet, sharpen your claws for attack mode! And there's a lot more where that came from. Check out the magic of Frontline Base, it lets me summon another level 4 or below monster this turn, and I have just the one. I play W-Wing Catapult in attack mode. Gentlemen, start your engines. Now merge! All right, the VW-Tiger Catapult! But wait I'm not done yet `cuz he still has his special ability."

"That's not good," Jaden muttered.

"Give me a break! Is this guy's turn ever gonna end some time this century?" Syrus called, causing Zane to chuckle softly against Kieran, the ravenet the only one aware of the action because he could feel the vibrations against his side.

"By sending a card to the graveyard, I can force one of your monsters into attack mode," continued Chazz as Clayman stood up. "So now after this heat seeker blitz from my Tiger Catapult, your life points are toast!" Kieran watched in his eyepiece as Jaden's Life Points fell to 2800. "I'll finish up with one card face down."

"Yeah, go ahead and finish up 'cuz I'm just getting warmed up." He drew a card, smiling as he played it. "And speaking of, here's a guy who can turn up the heat: Elemental Hero Sparkman in defense mode. _And_ I'll throw down a face down."

"Hmmm, unless he was me, there's little else he could do," Zane murmured, obviously referring to his Cyber Dragon and its special ability.

"Hey!" Kieran protested, pouting. "My Dark Magician and his Thousand Knives would have him on the run!"

The bluenet chuckled, stealthily rubbing circles into the back of the blond's hand affectionately. "I don't doubt that you would, Ren," he soothed. "I never could."

"Ready for round two, you Slifer Slime? Well X-Head Cannon is and, thanks to Frontline Base, so is Z-Metal Tank!"

"Aw, no way," Jaden muttered as the two machines shimmered onto the field.

"Now I play my face down card, Call of the Haunted. In case you slept through that class as well, it allows me to bring back a monster from my Graveyard and I choose…"

"Just get on with it!" Kieran yelled, much to Zane's amusement.

"That's right, Y-Dragon Head, it's what I discarded with my Catapult's special ability, and now I combined them all to create XYZ-Dragon Cannon!"

"… Now I may not be so lucky," Zane admitted quietly at the sight of the new monster, trading glances with the male at his side, well aware that both males had only two or three monsters powerful enough to take down such a beast.

"But wait, Jaden, there's more. Actually less, sure they say two's better than one but I have to disagree, especially when the one in question is the ultimate V-Z Dragon Catapult Cannon!"

"It looks like one of those megazord things from that Power Rangers show Syrus was into as a kid," the blond Ra whispered to the Obelisk, making the Truesdale chuckle in amusement.

"Makes your Sparkman look like a heap of spark plugs huh… or at least it _did_," the ravenet mocked as the monster he specified disappeared in a whirl of wind.

"My Sparkman!" cried Jaden in bewilderment.

"Oh I'm sorry, didn't I mention V-Z's special ability? He allows me to remove one card on your side of the field once per turn. And if you think that's impressive, just wait until you see his attack, an attack that will strike your life points directly!"

"Don't think so Chazz, I have a trap: A Hero Emerges!"

"A Hero what?"

"Emerges, as in emerges onto the field `cuz now you have to randomly choose a card from my hand, and if it's a monster, I get to play it." The brunet fanned his cards out. "So take your pick, _Chazz_."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever… the far right," the Obelisk answered, pointing to the card he'd nominated.

"Sweet, Elemental Hero Burstinatrix, I'll play her in defense mode!"

"That's what you think, you Slifer Slacker. When Dragon Catapult Cannon attacks, I get to choose your monster's mode and you know what, I choose attack mode, which means not only will she be zapped, but your life points will too!" In Kieran's eye, Jaden's Life Points hovered at 1000, but the underdog didn't seem worried yet. "Aw what's the matter, Jaden, having some test anxiety? Don't worry, it'll be over soon."

"No way, Chazz, I got a whole army of vicious monsters, in my deck, just waiting to get at you! This isn't over, it's just barely starting! My draw!" Jaden seemed angry now, more akin to the cocky aura his opponent exuded, but Kieran couldn't help but notice that the ravenet had a glint in his eye he had seen before—Zane had worn the same look when he'd coerced the Cyber duelist into a duel upon their arrival here. "I summon Winged Kuriboh in defense mode!" The instant the little fluffball with wings appeared, the entire female population of the school let out squeals, drowning out the creature's wielder as a facedown card shimmered into view.

"All done huh? Good cause now I can cook that Kuriboh, and I like mine well done. There's about to be a fried furball on the field, you loser."

"You don't scare me."

"No big deal, I don't have to… that's _his_ job." An idle glance around showed the blond the redhead from before was standing up at the railing with a nauseous look on his face as he stared at the ravenet, worry in his silver eyes. "Dragon Catapult Cannon attack!"

"I sacrifice two cards and activate Transcendent Wings!" Jaden cried as the attack came close, his monster's wings growing and deflecting the attack to either side, but Kieran wasn't paying any attention to the lightshow. Instead, he was focused on the Obelisk duelist, searching his eyes for their color in a hope that he had been mistaken and they weren't silver too. He didn't want another sibling relationship crumble because one of them was an unfeeling bastard to the other brother.

"Ah, it can't be!"

"Oh it be! Transcendent Wings has evolved Winged Kuriboh into a level 10 monster! And it gets better too. By sacrificing itself, Kuriboh destroys all monsters in attack mode and deflects their attack points back as damage to you. Kuriboh, why don't you go ahead and show him how it works?"

The field cleared, leaving Chazz with his first damage of the game and only 1000 Life Points left himself. "Lucky punk," he hissed, dropping his duel disk from where he'd brought it up to protect his face.

"Lucky? Nah, I just happen to have a soft spot for old ladies, but not for you Chazz," here, the Obelisk's eyes—_silver_ eyes—were full of hurt and pain that were devoid from his features, "and it's too bad cause with a thousand Life Points apiece and my turn coming up, all I need is the right monster, and you'll be finished. Here goes something!" The brunet drew a card, smiling. "Yeah, Elemental Hero Avian! Attack!" The monster lunged forward, slashing the Obelisk across the jaw and causing the boy to drop to the floor, Life Points gone.

The crowd burst out cheering, though just as Kieran suspected, the redhead darted down the stairs to the side of the defeated ravenet, pulling him to his feet and talking to him in a gentle undertone as Chancellor Sheppard announced the victorious Slifer's ascension into the next rank. "Come on, Zane," he murmured softly, stealing a kiss since the attention was clearly on Jaden and not the pair of them. "Let's go back to my dorm."

* * *

><p>Jaden sat on the steps outside the Ra dorm when Kieran headed out with Zane to go back to the Obelisk dorm, the two holding hands and freezing when they realized they weren't quite alone, thankful the other boy was far too distracted with his own thoughts to catch the two of them together. The blond dropped the bluenet's hand like it was scalding him, moving away too quickly to catch the momentary look of hurt that flitted over Zane's features. "You don't really belong here, do you?" he asked the brunet, startling him.<p>

"Huh?" Jaden asked intelligently, cocking his head to the side in confusion.

He leaned down. "I mean, your heart doesn't lie here in Ra, does it? You're a Slifer through and through, aren't you?" Understanding blossomed in the Yuki's eyes as he ran off in the direction of the Slifer dorms. Satisfied with what he'd done, the Salem returned to Zane's side, reconnecting their hands. "Well, I've done my good deed for the day, I'm ready for some good quality loving time with my boyfriend."

The Cyber duelist's pale blue eyes softened. "Wish granted," he murmured, kissing the other softly on the lips, for once uncaring of whoever might see them.

* * *

><p>Zane: Psh, like I would care what anyone else thought anyway.<p>

Yes, but Kieran obviously does, so you have to care, otherwise he'll have you sleeping alone again.

Zane: ... I hate you so much right now...

*sticks tongue out at him* Yeah, well, until Atticus and Aster come in, you're all I've got.

Zane: ... Still hating you...

*smiles* And for the record, yes, that was the other OC, Sora Princeton/Samatoko helping his brother Chazz up at the end of the duel. To see his duel, and who he is, please read the story **Black and Red**.

Zane: ... A review will be greeted with a... *pauses to read script carefully* plushee version of me? What the hell?

*beams* Aw, come on Zaney, you know you're totally huggable!

Zane: ... *eyebrow twitches*

Oh, and before I forget, I will be going over my chapters of both this and **Black and Red** for spelling and grammar problems some time in the near future, so don't freak out if something changes slightly due to content or some other dumb mistake... Until next time readers!

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><p>Last edited: 925/2011


	5. E5&6: Of Dreams and Nightmares

Gold and Silver

I managed to reach the M mark... barely. Oh well, it still deserves it... And besides, knowing Zane, we'll get there soon... after I'll have it THROUGHLY owned and abused by the chapter with Camula...

Oh yes, and before I forget, this story will have three other companions. There's **Black and Red**, the story that follows the underclassmen, a oneshot following these guys after Hell Kaiser (Hell KaiserxKieran, KieranxAster, and a Victoryshipping) by the name of **The Silver Phoenix's Gold Funeral Pyre**, and then there's one following the Society of Light with the underclassmen, a tentatively titled **Bleached Red to Dye Black** with the pairings of Whitehornetshipping (White!BastionxWhite!Chazz), Whiterivalshipping (White!ChazzxJaden), and White!BastionxSora (and yes, I did come up with all of those pairing titles myself since I couldn't find any actual mentions of them anywhere).

* * *

><p>I stole no dialogue since this chapter has nothing that was actually in the episode.<p>

This chapter has three names. The first two are the Japanese translations of Episodes 5 and 6, the English version using "The Shadow Duelist, Part One" and "The Shadow Duelist, Part Two", and then the next one is my own personal dub for the chapters, "Of Dreams and Nightmares".

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. How can you tell? Simple: the card games are moderately exciting.

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><p>Chapter 56: A Dark Demon Deck/ Miracle of Hane Kuriboh or "Of Dreams and Nightmares"

Kieran couldn't help smiling at the sight of Zane with his head lowered, focused on the work lying on the desk before him while he lounged on the bed, having just finished the novel he'd been forced to read, Shakespeare's _King of Lear_. "You're welcome to watch TV, you know," the bluenet said, not needing to raise his eyes from his work to tell that his boyfriend was bored. "The headphones are in the top drawer of the nightstand."

"Thanks Zane," the blond chirped, "There's a duel interview I want to watch today and I was beginning to think I might have to miss it so that you could get your work done!" He dug around in the distinguished drawer, managing to locate a small pair of clip-on headphones he attached to his ears without a second thought (he and Zane had been sharing things for years now, so whatever sickness one had the other caught too).

"I doubt that," the teal-haired Obelisk answered teasingly. "After all, I don't doubt that you'd just stream the thing straight to your eyepiece and watch it from there."

Kieran stuck his tongue out at his boyfriend, instead flicking through the channels to find the one he wanted and settled in to watch Aster Phoenix's interview. The boy was his type, cute and sweet, but he knew it was something that would never last, especially with Zane as his boyfriend. Still, he couldn't quite manage to keep himself from watching the D-Hero duelist, if only to better learn how he played his deck.

* * *

><p>Aster leaned back in his chair, giving the lady—Miss Aurora Beaumont—his patented smile. She returned it, hers softer and gentler than his, less fake. It was then that he remembered she ran a minor dueling publication, the majority of her attentions being focused towards online work with the occasional written or televised event. She didn't care for the hype and false promises of the majority of the pro-circuit, the cutthroat antics of duelists always striving to stay above the dark world of the Underground. He could be whoever he wanted around her and she would think just the same of him. "Hello Miss Beaumont," he greeted cordially, slouching slightly with the relief of not having any expectations to live up to for once.<p>

"Hello Mister Phoenix," she returned, and it was those words that reminded him that he was actually older than her by a year. "How are you?"

"I'm doing well enough," he replied, leaning back in his chair and crossing his legs. "And you?"

"The Millennium Project is doing better than ever," she replied, straightening out her light blue dress, her long red hair falling over her shoulders. "As a direct result of such, I am both running on a perpetual high and physically drained from all the work I've had to put into everything. Still, I'd rather be having to reject stories than scrambling for them at any rate."

"You make an excellent point," he chuckled. She had put him at ease with her light banter, something he hadn't properly indulged in for a few days.

"I like you, Aster," she stated, sea green eyes twinkling. "I don't want you to be offended by any of the questions I ask you today, but I will tell you some of them are rather… brash." She wiped the playful smile off her face and withdrew her elbows from the table, straightening in a display that clearly told him that the camera was rolling soon. Indeed, he had barely regained his posture when she began speaking. "Hello everyone, this is Millennium Project's Aurora Beaumont, joined today by the lovable Aster Phoenix… or should that be the other way around?"

Aster chuckled softly at her soft reference to his growing popularity, especially because he was so young (at fifteen, he was noticeably younger than the rest of his competition and that made him all the more likable among the female numbers). "No, I assure you it's entirely my honor to be here today."

She smiled accordingly. "Well then, in that case, your flattery has earned you the right to some simple questions to start out with, personality questions if you would." She blinked her eyes, slyly winking at him where the camera couldn't see it. "To start with, let's ask what your favorite color is."

"Hmmm… I'd say… blue, though I'm also partial to gold."

"I wouldn't have pinned you as someone who likes gold. Is there a story behind it?"

"Yeah…" he murmured. "My father's favorite color was gold. He said it was a very hopeful color, bright and revered."

She chuckled. "I would have to agree with that, gold is a very persuasive color. Now then… your favorite food?"

"I love a good ripe orange or tangerine, preferably seedless, but I'd never turn down a good home-cooked meal."

"Movie?"

"_Inception_, I like a movie with a plot that makes you think."

"Book?"

"_To Kill a Mockingbird_ by Harper Lee."

"A classic American novel… are you from the South?"

He laughed. "No, I'm actually more fond of the whole justice part of the book."

She smiled slyly. "Of course, I'd forgotten your whole 'white knight' persona… but that's for a later time. Your favorite song?"

"'Welcome to the Black Parade' by My Chemical Romance."

"A dark song for the white knight of dueling… there _must _be a reason for it."

He shrugged. "I can relate to a lot of the lyrics."

"I'd buy that… best childhood memory?"

"The last time my father took me for ice cream. I was eight."

She didn't need to ask what his worst was. Everyone knew about his father's disappearance anyway, the man having been declared 'dead' only a year or two ago. "Anything you'd like to say on your opponents?"

His chin came up then, defiant. "I will always triumph because I duel for justice," he stated, mentally meaning that was a warning to whomever it was who killed his father.

"And your fans?"

He gave the camera his patented winning smile. "Just that I'm not interested in dating at this particular time."

"An excellent topic to bring up, dating." She tapped her fingers against the table once, likely a nervous habit cultivated when she was struggling to think of words as she wrote and had not yet broken for the benefit of the camera, before she made a concentrated effort to stop, her fingers balling up beneath her palm as a slight crease appeared on her brow. "What would be the traits of your ideal date?"

He paused, having to think for a moment how to best go about this impromptu description. "I want someone that's sweet but not afraid to speak her mind, soft on the outside but not unable to stand on her own or defend herself when she needs to, pretty but not vain, and faithful in the same way I would be."

"And that's all the time we have today!" Aurora lamented, standing. "It's been a pleasure, Aster, but I guess I'll have to save that for the next time we meet." They shook hands before the unblinking eyes of their audience before the gleaming ruby blanked into a dark onyx.

* * *

><p><em>Silver hair cascading around his shoulders, pale skin pressed against his own, a pulled-in lip abused by teeth out of shyness… it was all so wonderful, so perfect, than he just <em>had _to reward him with a kiss on the tip of that engorged erection before he took the thing whole in his mouth, swallowing and humming as he scraped his teeth over the sensitive skin before pulling back to see that flushed face once again. Of course, it would be all the better if there wasn't some thrice-damned beeping going on in the background… wait, beeping?_

* * *

><p>Kieran let out a curse as he fell out of the bed, snatching his goldenrod jacket from a chair and tugging it over his bare chest and the bottom third of his disheveled blond hair, his next target being the scanner on the nightstand that he harshly shoved in front of his tired emerald eyes. "What's wrong?" Zane asked from the mess of blankets, his sleepy pale blue eyes following the other around the room.<p>

"Someone's in the Abandoned Dorm," the Ra stated bitterly, yanking on his silver Converses, "and they've crashed the system." His fingers flew over the touch screen of his PDA, desperately trying to force a reboot. He didn't like sitting blind, especially since he was losing precious data with every moment that went by.

"I'm coming with you," the teal-haired Obelisk stated, pulling on a uniform shirt and his own shoes. The blond didn't bother to protest, instead darting off with the other in tow. As they sprinted through the forest—or at least, Kieran was sprinting and falling over all manner of forest debris while Zane merely kept up a steady jog that left him able to dodge the majority of the obstacles—a flash of light sky caught the Cyber duelist's eye. "Oh, Syrus is in _so _much trouble," he muttered to himself, but with the way Kieran's antics were sending him skittering into trees, his attention had to be on his younger boyfriend rather than his little brother.

Kieran vaulted over the gate blocking the entrance, ignoring the dust his feet stirred up as he navigated to the heart of his project, jamming two buttons by the door, one white and the other red. "Computer, run diagnostic!" he cried, glad he'd installed a manual restart here just in case.

"Running," the machine replied in that airy secretary's mechanical voice, the sound of whirring gears all that could be heard for a prolonged moment. "Source of shutdown not found."

"Not found!" he yelped in surprise, only calming himself when Zane put a hand on his arm. He breathed heavily for a moment, thinking, before he stated, "Computer, state the last task performed before shutdown."

"Recording duel between one Jaden Yuki and one duelist, deck Archfiend."

"Delete the recording," Kieran ordered, jaw high. As much as he'd like the data, it was likely corrupted and thus the reason the system crashed.

"Task completed."

He walked back towards the door. "Run another diagnostic on the recording program, Computer."

"Authorization code required."

"Code: Hero."

"Authorization code accepted. Task beginning. One percent." Before the computer could continue, a flick of slender fingers pressed against the white button again, deactivating the audio function.

"Just what I needed," he muttered, rubbing his temples, "a nightmare to compliment my dream."

* * *

><p>Kieran grabbed the smaller blue-haired boy during a quiet moment in class, stating a non-existent reason about a crawlspace too cramped for him to venture into himself. Instead, the two met Zane leaning against the wall further down the hallway, the elder Truesdale with his arms crossed and a displeased expression on his face. "Zane!" Syrus gasped, but the elder cut him off.<p>

"I don't ever want to see you by the Abandoned Dorms again, do you understand me Syrus?" he asked in a furious tone.

"Y-yes," the little boy stuttered, scurrying off.

Kieran gave his boyfriend an odd look. "Why'd you do that?" he asked sternly, his tone bordering on scolding. "The poor kid nearly wet himself when you confronted him like that."

"That's not why I did it like that," the Cyber duelist corrected. "I did it to establish a sense of omnipresence. If he thinks I know what he does at all times, he'll be less likely to do something to get him kicked out."

"True," the Salem commented, the corner of his mouth turning inward, "but I don't think you should do it again."

"Fine," he conceded. _I don't think I'll need to anyway_…

* * *

><p>*snickers* Poor Syrus, abused because Zane saw him.<p>

Aster: Why am I here?

You guest-appeared, so you get to show up this chapter.

Aster: Um, yay?

Zane: ...

Aster: ...

Reviews will get you a plushee of Aster! *cuddles her own happily*

Aster: ... *sidles away*

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><p>Last edited: 1020/2011


	6. E7: Duel and Unusual Punishment

Gold and Silver

Well, to start off with, I would like to thank **sarahnyaa** for reviewing; I would have PMed you with a response except that you blocked it!

Now that that's over... this chapter falls fully under the M category, so you've been warned!

I didn't mean to put this up so early, but I decided to neglect my oneshots for this instead... Oh the love I show you, you moochers! (Invader Zim refrence for the win!) Don't forget to read **Black and Red **too!

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><p>I took directly from the dubbed episode this chapter, so there's no need to yell at me for stealing. I didn't do it from anything but the show...<p>

This is the title of the English-dub for Episode 7. Its Japanese version translates to "Sho's [Syrus's] Vehicroid Deck".

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX or Invader Zim. I do, however, own an iPod with episodes of Invader Zim on it (Bloody GIR will haunt you in your dreams!) and volume 7 of the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX manga (it made my day when I found it in Barnes and Noble while on another errand...)

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><p>Chapter 7: Duel and Unusual Punishment<p>

Zane stood at the pier, looking out at the sunset. _Kieran_… he lamented. The Ra had grow distant from him in the past few days, the recent crash of his precious computer system perpetually ticking over in the Salem's mind, but it was enough to make him doubt. _I lost Atticus because I was too cold… might I lose Kieran too for the very same reason?_

"Hello? What are you doing out here?"

His jaw tightened for a moment, the result of his defensiveness over being caught here, in his precious thinking-place, before he soothed himself. After all, it was only Alexis… and she _was _Atticus' little sister. "Nothing, I just felt like being alone." _The only two people I'd want to be with right now aren't here right now. Kieran said he needed some time to fix the problem, and I know I said I'd give him time… but I don't know if I can wait for too much longer._

She stood beside him, in the spot Kieran usually took. "You know, I thought once your brother enrolled here, you'd feel like that less, not more."

"Well maybe that's because my brother shouldn't be here."

"You can't believe that," Alexis replied, brow furrowing.

"He's not strong enough," Zane growled. "He doesn't understand that life's more than just the isolated sandbox he's lived in all his life, and until he realizes there's something more than that, he won't properly belong here."

"What about Kieran then?" she retorted sharply, eyes flashing. "After all, it's not as if he's doing anything other than chasing after ghosts! Or Atticus? He was always changing his mind over what he wanted to do with his life, but you never seemed to hold it against him!"

"Leave." His tone broached no arguments; she had crossed a line insulting his love interests. Kieran chased because that had been the only thing he could do to move forward, and then Atticus… did it because it was his nature. The perky brunet had excelled in the art of being fresh and new, which was something he could not do if he didn't reinvent himself often. He wanted… he wanted Atticus back, but that wasn't possible. Instead, he would have to make do with… No, he did love Kieran, but not in the way he had Atticus. He might have had Kieran not rejected him when they were younger—he didn't hold it against him, he understood that the Salem had been too young to think of anything like that—but he had, and now they were in this position where he was trying to compensate for the love he once had and that Kieran needed.

"Atticus…" he sighed, tipping his head back to stare up at the sky. "Kieran…" He couldn't see an answer in the stars, but he could at least visit the source of his problems, his precious Kieran at the Abandoned Dorms. Almost without his vocation, he began speaking aloud as he walked. "I don't know what I'm going to do. I know I said I love Kieran, and I do… but it's Atticus I see when I dream."

He supposed the solution was simple; he merely had to train himself to respond to Kieran… and he could do that by sleeping with the boy. Of course, that was only another reason to give him reason to seek out the Ra, the main one being that the interest the Magician duelist was showing him, albeit not intentionally, was rather lacking with all the stress of the system. It was time to make a surprise visit to his precious Ren…

* * *

><p>Kieran let out a scream of frustration, throwing the twisted plastic in his hands into the wall, flinching at the loud bang it made. He hadn't meant to lose his temper like that, but his isolation… it was killing him. He felt like he didn't relate with his deck anymore, the cards were all against him, but he couldn't admit it, his pride wouldn't let him, no more would his craving to be held equal to his boyfriend. So long as he held the Dark Magic deck, he was equal to Zane's Cyber Dragon deck.<p>

From across the room, his scanner mocked him, resting on top of his budding deck. Actually, it was one he had created years ago, crafted out of a desire to win and become the best, but he'd set it aside because he'd somehow recognized that it wasn't a good influence on him. The Spellcaster deck was powerful, yes, but he felt that, in spite of his powerful highlights, it was missing something important. All his decks were.

Of course, that was likely just a bleed-over from his situation. He was pushing ForeverHero away from him for Zane and Zane away for his damn dreams. He looked up, unsurprised to see Magician's Valkyria standing beside him. The card spirit had been at his side ever since he had defeated Zane, and though she had never spoken to him before, she was a comfort. "I bet you know what's wrong with me, don't you?" he asked rhetorically, leaning back on his haunches as he tried to get a different angle on the open computer he was working with.

She nodded, smiling softly as she waved her hand, a swirl of curling parchment appearing in her grip as her staff shrunk down to a ballpoint pen of the same design. She carefully traced out the letters for what she wanted to say, something Kieran had never seen before. He did not know she was literate, and no matter how often he'd talked to her, she'd never revealed it before. She turned the parchment around to show him her message. **The Shadow Games have returned to the world once more. You have been named a target because of your alliance with the one who shall know the darkness and the one who searches for both justice and revenge.**

His brow furrowed. "Shadow Games? Target? What are you talking about?"

**You need not worry**, she replied. **I shall protect you as best I can**_._ Her head came up and she hastily scrawled one last message—**He comes…**_—_before she disappeared once more.

A pair of arms wrapping around his stomach made him jump, though he untensed his muscles at the feel of a gentle mouth pressed against his neck. "Zane?" the blond murmured softly, "what are you doing here?"

The Obelisk's lips lifted up in a rare half-smile. "I wanted to see you."

"Zay-zay, I love you," the Ra stated, "but I thought I told you it was dangerous to be back here." _Crowler told me about the other disappearance the other day, and well… I'm worried that you'll be next._

He pulled back, not minding the childish nickname. He hadn't in several years. "Is it really so wrong for me to want to give you some love?" he asked, scooping up his younger lover and dumping him on the bed, the golden hair flaring around him to give him the appearance of a halo.

Kieran bit his lip. "I… I don't know if I'm ready for that yet, Zane…" he admitted.

"That's fine," the elder stated, leaning down to huff his breath over the other's lips teasingly. "We can do other things that are just as pleasurable." He pulled away just in time for the other to lean up with a whine, chuckling softly at the surprised look on the other's face as he crawled down the lithe body of his smaller lover.

It was a simple matter to tug off the black t-shirt Kieran was wearing, along with the oil-stained jeans, which left the younger blushing and wearing only a pair of gold boxers. He didn't bother to take them off before he was mouthing the erection hiding behind the silky fabric, gaining a surprised cry for his actions. Deciding he wanted to see the younger in yet higher throes of ecstasy, he pulled back to throw the boxers across the room, ducking back down to envelop Kieran's passion once again.

He was burning. There was nothing left but the fire, but he was… somehow okay with that. He bucked upward into the wonderful warmth, encountering a wonderful contracting sensation as his prize before his hips were held down. Wanting something to hold onto when a slender tongue hesitantly wrapped around him, he buried his fingers in teal locks as he let out a fierce cry.

Zane pulled back, wanting to say something to his lover even though the whimper he received plucked at his heartstrings. "Cum for me, Ren," he purred, running his tongue over heated flesh and making sure the other did not escape the restraining hand he'd placed on those lithe hips. "I want to taste you."

It was those words that triggered Kieran's orgasm, the blond arching his back and ejaculating with a cry of "Zane!" He was panting as he came down from his high, blinking hazy emerald eyes. "Do you want me to…?" he asked tiredly, but his boyfriend cut him off with a tender smile.

"It's fine," he reassured. "Tonight's about you, not me." He attempted another half-smile. "Besides, it's not too bad." That was a lie; his own erection was in pain from being confined in his pants, but he wasn't going to force the Magician duelist into something he wasn't yet comfortable with.

"Mmm," he slurred tiredly, curling up in a nest of blankets he'd arranged with his writhing body, "stay with me?"

Zane crawled in beside him, the pair settling down for a light nap. "Always."

* * *

><p>Kieran lay splayed across Zane's chest, idly tracing patterns on the bluenet's bare breast with his finger as the elder played his fingers through golden strands of hair. "Zane?" he asked softly, lifting his head to gaze at the dozing Obelisk, who made a concentrated effort to focus his pale blue eyes on the emerald ones before him, "Do you remember when I told you I hated you?"<p>

"_Zay-zay, I don't wanna go all the way out here in my uniform!" Kieran whined, his smaller size making him almost have to run to keep up with the elder's longer strides._

"_You didn't have to come," the bluenet replied scathingly, not turning to see if the other was still following him. "And how many times do I have to tell you it's _Zane_, not Zay-zay!"_

_Kieran opened his mouth to reply, but his trailing shoelaces tripped him up then, causing him to fall hard onto the pavement, luckily on a street that had been temporarily closed by an ongoing duel._

_It was indeed that lack of a response that had the elder Truesdale turning with a sigh, his light blue eyes widening slightly at the watering emerald eyes and the bleeding knees. Zane's arms wrapped around him, the older wiping the tears away. "Shh," he soothed, the same way his parents would when he or Syrus were hurt, "you're okay now, shh." Once the crying had dissolved into hiccups, he carefully retied the laces, making sure the knots were tight, and pulled the other to his feet, keeping their hands conjoined as he went into a shop. "Excuse me," he asked the lady at the counter, "but could I bother you for a band-aid?"_

_The woman cooed over him, but he made sure he was the one to sit the other down on a bench and clean out his cuts with a strip of paper towel before he put the bandages on the younger. "Thank you, Zay… Zane," Kieran whispered, sniffling and giving a weak smile. "The others always said you were a jerk and didn't care for anyone, but I would always defend you… Guess I was right after all huh?"_

_Zane didn't answer, instead leading the other around to a playground where a younger Syrus was dueling a rather pudgy boy. Gyroid and Steamroid were out on Syrus's side of the field, while the other boy had a Gearfried the Iron Knight and a facedown. "Do you hear that, I'm not afraid of you anymore!" Syrus declared triumphantly. "Know why? Because I'm going to be the one who takes you down!"_

"_Stop!" Zane cried, dropping Kieran's hand and striding forward as the younger Truesdale flailed his arms and legs, falling onto the ground in surprise._

"_Hey, who said that?" Syrus demanded, then gasped as he looked up. "Zane?"_

"_This duel never happened, got it? Just take this and walk away." the elder Truesdale commanded, making Kieran's eyes widen as he watched the boy who had just helped him single-handedly strip his younger brother of his confidence._

"_Nice card," the bully commented, taking it. "You got yourself a deal."_

"_What are you doing, Zane? I was about to win this duel with the card you gave me!" Kieran had to agree, the ending certainly looked to be in Syrus's favor since there was only one card Zane would have given away, his Power Bond._

"_No, Syrus, you weren't," Zane stated cruelly, twisting the knife in the wound. "And I never would have given you that card had I known you would misplay it like you were about to."_

"_Misplay? I was not!" Syrus protested, and Kieran ran forward in the littler boy's defense._

"_Yeah, Zane, calm down, the duel was in Sy's favor, and even if he _was _about to misplay it, you're overreacting!"_

"_You were, this was the facedown card that your opponent had out on the field, Syrus."_

"_Spellbinding Circle!" Syrus gasped, feeling foolish._

"_That's right, a very powerful trap card, and when it's sprung, the monster that it ensnares can neither attack nor change its battle mode." Syrus and Kieran were both quiet, allowing the colder boy to continue. "So you would have summoned your Fusion monster with Power Bond and its attack points would have doubled, but then Spellbinding Circle would have prevented you from attacking with him, and then you would have been left taking a hit to your Life Points at the end of your turn for having used Power Bond."_

_Syrus whimpered, looking down ashamedly, fighting back tears, but Kieran just got angry, his fists clenching at his side while he glared daggers at his idol. "You weren't thinking, Syrus. You didn't take into account the facedown card and you didn't take into account Power Bond's adverse special effect. Sure, you may know how to _use _the card, but there's more to dueling than simply that!"_

_Syrus fell to his knees at the powerful statement as he fought back tears, but Kieran's anger broke. "You jerk!" the blond spitfire yelled, storming up to his counterpart, somehow managing to force the other back a step despite being a head smaller, "He was just trying to stand up to a bully! He didn't mean any harm! And besides, for all he knew, that facedown could have been a Fake Trap!"_

"_Ki-" he breathed, but the Salem cut him off._

"_I thought you were different from what they said, but I guess I was wrong!" He yanked Syrus to his feet, storming a few steps before he turned on his heel to give the elder boy a fierce glare. "I hate you, Zane! I'm never going to let you see me duel until the day I know I can give you a taste of your own foul medicine!"_

The Truesdale's eyes turned sorrowful—Kieran had kept his promise that day, working hard over the years and refusing to duel in front of the teal-haired boy he eventually reconciled with until the day they both came to Duel Academy. "I could never forget it," he stated, drawing the other out of his memories.

"Well, I lied. I… I loved you, even back then…"

* * *

><p>Zane: ...<p>

GAH! *hides under bed* Until this chapter, I never actually LISTENED to Zane's dubbed voice... every time he opens his mouth now, I'm like OHMIRA, HE'S NOT TALKING AND YET HE IS! *smiles sheepishly* I don't know WHY I think his voice is messed up, but I do...

Atty: ... Why am I here? I thought I was still missing.

Zane: Atticus! *hugs*

Because I decided your manga deck is so weird with its BIRDIES. Chazz's deck with the dragons was pretty badass though...

Atty: ...

Zane: *buries nose in his hair happily*

... Review for a hug from King Atticus!

Atty: Wait, what?

Zane: *pulls closer protectively* Mine!

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><p>Last edited: 1020/2011


	7. E8: The Strongest! Cyber End Dragon

Gold and Silver

I'm too tired to do any read-throughs or things. I'm doing another update today since the chapter's so short, and don't forget to read **Black and Red** too!

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><p>Once again, no stealing of dialogue happened other than that with the show. Man, I'm getting good at this transcribing business...<p>

This is the translation of the Japanese title for Episode 8. The English-dub instead uses "For the Sake of Syrus".

I have never, do not, and likely never will own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. There, I said it. Happy now?

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><p>Chapter 8: The Strongest! Cyber End Dragon<p>

Kieran sighed as he put the last piece of the siding in place, entirely conscious of the fact that pale blue eyes followed his every movement as he did so. "There, that's the last of it," he stated, leaning back on his haunches. "With luck, I _should _have fixed whatever it is that went wrong earlier."

Warm breath huffed over his neck as he felt a soft nuzzling sensation at the very edge of his hairline. "That's good," Zane answered quietly. "You can sleep in a room that _doesn't _irritate your allergies now."

Kieran scowled. "I'm not allergic," he pouted, "just sensitive to dust."

The Truesdale chuckled dryly, pressing a gentle kiss to the inside of his neck. "Shall we go to the pier?" he asked. "Celebrate your new freedom?"

"Sure," the Salem replied. "I need to rework my deck again."

Zane frowned. "Why are you always reworking your deck, Ren? The deck you used the longest, that Spellcasters one, was powerful enough to defeat me, but after you scrapped it, you haven't managed to hold down a solid formation for longer than a month until you got that Dark Magic deck, but even then it's clear that your heart isn't in it nor did you properly arrange it with any real strength to it, only that which luck affords you."

Kieran looked to aside, his gaze falling to the form of Magician's Valkyria at his side, her hands clutching her staff behind her in the picture of politeness. Taking solace in his spirit card, he spoke. "The Spellcasters deck was too powerful," he stated, turning to gaze into Zane's eyes. "It was corrupting me."

The Obelisk didn't understand exactly what his boyfriend meant, but that didn't matter because he held the Ra in his arms now. "Come on," he encouraged, pulling the smaller to his feet, "let's get moving. I'll even help you with your deck this time."

"Nah," the smaller chuckled, playfully pushing the shoulder of the elder, "I'll get along just fine working on my own."

* * *

><p>"Who do you think those boys were in your room?" the teal-haired Obelisk murmured, bringing the Ra from his task.<p>

"I don't know," he replied, setting the cards down. "I _was _supposed to have a roommate this year, so that's probably what it is." The two hung in a comfortable silence until the sound of footsteps caught their attention.

"So, any new leads?" Zane asked, subtly allowing the defensive stance of his body to hide Kieran's form from Alexis as she approached.

She sighed heavily, shaking her head. "I can't believe he's still gone. I keep looking for some sign, but it's like my brother just vanished into thin air."

_Who's Alexis's brother? _Kieran thought, brow furrowing, but respected Zane's wishes of remaining a hidden observer, _and what does he mean to Zane?_

"Don't give up," the bluenet encouraged gently. "You'll find him."

"I hope so," she answered, gaze fixed on the sunset before she turned to him. "Speaking of brothers, Zane, I saw yours the other day."

Zane stiffened and began to shut down, the same way he would when anyone other than his boyfriend brought up the subject. "Oh did you now?" he stated sarcastically, his tone dark enough that the blond Ra rubbed a hand along his arm soothingly.

"Yeah, he lost in a practice duel with Jaden Yuki. Your name came up too, but not in a good way."

The Salem bit his lip, green eyes dropping to the sea. _I bet he drew Power Bond and got the lovely flashback I did… Joy… I love you dearly, Zane, but we have really got to work on your people skills…_

"The big bad brother. What, does Jaden want to scold me now?" Zane couldn't help but think that the brunet Slifer was already too late—Kieran had given him that the day it happened and he still regretted ever making those beautiful emerald eyes flash with anything but happiness.

"Actually, I think he wants to duel you." Alexis seemed excited at the prospect, but Kieran didn't know what to think. Sure, a duel between the two males might be a valuable data point for his project… but he didn't want to ever see Zane lose it, and he had a bad feeling that perhaps Jaden could hand the Obelisk the defeat he hadn't seen since Kieran's revenge duel with the Spellcaster deck four years ago.

"Stay back Jaden!" Syrus cried, catching all of their attentions. Kieran's eyes went wide when he saw the little Slifer with a makeshift raft, and he didn't think twice about darting from Zane's side up the pier. He didn't want Syrus to leave, the boy had only just begun getting his confidence back…

He darted closer, finally coming within earshot in time to hear Syrus say "I'm a lost cause" as the brunet Slifer held up a fist.

"He's right, you know," Zane stated, a little ways up the cliff and ignoring the way his boyfriend jumped down and darted over to Syrus.

"Zane!" the little one cried in surprise before he was smothered in the concern that _should _have been given to him by his elder brother.

"Are you okay Sy?" Kieran asked, ruffling the light waterlogged blue hair softly. At the nod and soft sniffle, the blond sighed, removing the soaking red jacket and shrugging off his own deep goldenrod one. "Here, Sy, at least warm up in this," he sighed, wrapping the fabric around the boy's shoulders, not caring that the hem was trailing in the water.

"So that's the school's top duelist?" Jaden muttered, but he was firmly ignored.

"You dropping out?" Zane asked coldly, shoving down a spike of jealousy at how gently his lover was treating his baby brother.

"Well…" Syrus murmured, taking strength in knowing that perhaps the only person who could bring his elder brother to his senses was standing at his left side, "Yeah, kinda."

"Well it's about time," Zane stated, bowing his head slightly.

Kieran shot up, already in 'spitfire' mode. "Zane Ryuu* Truesdale, you stop that right now!' he yelled, darting up the rocks to hit the eldest boy across the shoulder as the smallest boy began to despair. "Syrus doesn't deserve to drop out any more than I do, and not only am I fairly certain we established this argument years ago, I'm also pretty sure I was the one who won!"

"You're his big brother!" Jaden demanded angrily, "how can you say that?"

Zane caught Kieran's wrists, careful to make sure his grip was firm enough to keep the younger captive but not to the point where he would be creating bruises. "Because I know him."

"Zane, you asshole, stop it! You've already done enough damage for one lifetime, can't you quit while you're ahead?" Kieran yelled, yanking on his constraints to no avail.

"Yeah, I betcha think you know it all, but guess what? You don't. And I'm gonna prove it right now! Let's duel!" Jaden was just as mad as Kieran, but his rash statement managed to shock the blond out of his fury and into something else: desperate concern.

"No, Jaden!" Syrus cried.

"Duel a Slifer?" he murmured pensively, then shook his head, smiling. "Sure, why not? After all, it's been a while since I went slumming."

Kieran's eyes narrowed and he yanked his arms free from his lover, barely managing to free himself without forfeiting his balance. "If you do this, Zane, you'll be doing it alone," he stated, jaw tight and emerald eyes as firm as the gemstones they emulated. The last time Zane had seen that look directed at him was right before the younger had ended the duel in as harsh a manner as he could.

"_And now, Cosmo Queen, attack Zane's Life Points directly! Prove to him that it's the heart of the duelist, not the intent of the cards, that determines the outcome of a duel!"_

"Kieran, please," he whispered, snagging the Ra by his elbow. _I don't want to lose you again…_

"I won't let you do this again," he replied firmly, eyes narrowed. "Not to me, Syrus, or anyone."

"Ren," he breathed, pale blue eyes begging for understanding, but the Salem merely yanked himself from the Truesdale's grip, striding off stiffly, yanking off his eyepiece angrily. The Obelisk knew where to find him when he had finished with his damn duel.

* * *

><p>"Dammit!" Kieran cried, throwing his deck out behind him, glaring darkly at the scattered cards as he attempted to repress the pain of his headache.<p>

"I'm sorry," Zane offered, both of his feet outside the doorway of Kieran's sanctuary as he watched the way the other worked, his usual eyepiece thrown aside. "I know I'm harsh when I don't need to be… and I'm sorry."

_The other boy had been avoiding him… and it pissed him off to no end. He had taken it for granted that the smaller would trail after him like a lost puppy, but now that he was gone… he realized he missed the little blond more than he thought he would. That was why he had grabbed Kieran's arm after class one day and yanked the protesting boy to his house, ignoring the protests and feeble smacks he received for his efforts. He didn't care what the blond said, he belonged to the bluenet, and Zane Truesdale didn't give up what was his without a fight._

"I know," Kieran sighed, stepping around his cards and wrapping his arms around the Obelisk. "I just wish you weren't so good at destroying everything around you."

* * *

><p>*Note- Zane doesn't actually <em>have <em>a middle name in the show, but I figured Kieran would use it if he knew it, and considering the fact that the two have been "friends" since childhood, the blond likely _does _know it. I chose the name Ryuu because it both means 'dragon' in Japanese (referencing the nickname he has in the original show, Kaiser, or dragon) and was a tip of my hat to his Japanese name Ryo.

* * *

><p>Zane: Why did you make me so bipolar?<p>

... Just shut up, Zaney, I'm tired of your negativity.

Zane: ... Review please.

... Better.

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><p>Last edited: 1020/2011


	8. E9: Family Business

Gold and Silver

Shameless advertising time! For those of you who like this story, you might like **Black and Red**, the companion story, or **Broken Halo**, which is a piece of mine that's about to go through some major changes...

* * *

><p>I didn't steal any dialogue here, just song lyrics.<p>

This is the title of the English-dub for Episode 9. Its Japanese version translates to "Single Attack of Shooting! Return a low dining table".

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX or "American Idiot" by Green Day.

* * *

><p>Chapter Nine: Family Business<p>

On Crowler's request, Kieran was working on some newfangled contraption that was intended to analyze the weaknesses of a deck and come up with the best way to defeat it. Sure, the blond didn't believe that there was any surefire way to beat a deck without relying a good bit on luck, but if he got to add another server to his number, he wasn't going to complain. Zane had decided he rather didn't want to watch his boyfriend work, mainly because he could still feel the tension from before, but he had still followed the Ra out to the Abandoned Dorm, if only to sleep in the light blue sheets that had once been his own a long time ago, which was why he suspected the Salem had chosen this particular room to be his sanctuary. Worried, he pulled out the earplugs he had put in to drown out the sounds of Blue October's "Into the Ocean" where his younger lover had been blasting the music from his workroom. Instantly, his ears were bombarded with the sound of rock music, lightly overlaid with off-key warbling. "_Don't wanna be an American idiot/ Don't want a nation under the new media/ And can you hear the sound of hysteria?/ The subliminal mindfuck America_."

He rolled his eyes; Kieran was transparent about his love for odd music that was almost philosophy about the messed up world. "_Welcome to a new kind of tension/ All across the alien nation/ Where everything isn't meant to be okay/ Television dreams of tomorrow/ We're not the ones who're meant to follow/ For that's enough to argue_."

He threw the covers off, letting out a low protesting hiss when his bare foot connected with the cold hardwood floor but nonetheless padding over to the door, not bothering to shrug on the shirt he'd discarded before he'd settled in for his nap. "_Well maybe I'm the faggot America/ I'm not a part of a redneck agenda/ Now everybody do the propaganda/ And sing along to the age of paranoia_."

Entering the workroom was easy enough, the Ra left the door unlocked. Locating the Ra himself among the bulky machines, well, that was a much more difficult task, and Zane quickly found himself navigating more by the sound of Kieran's voice than sight or any form of logic. "_Welcome to a new kind of tension/ All across the alien nation/ Where everything isn't meant to be okay/ Television dreams of tomorrow/ We're not the ones who're meant to follow/ For that's enough to argue_."

He found Kieran with that entire lithe body twisted inside a large metal shell, his left hand groping outside the server next to where his tools were. The elder, figuring it was the twisted mess of wires and switchboards he wanted, nudged it into his palm, causing the body to stiffen as he twisted back out to stare at the Obelisk. The two stared at each other for a long moment as the song picked back up again. _'Don't want to be an American idiot/ One nation controlled by the media/ Information age of hysteria/ It's going out to idiot America_.'

_'Welcome to a new kind of tension/All across the alien nation/Where everything isn't meant to be okay/Television dreams of tomorrow/We're not the ones who're meant to follow/For that's enough to argue_.'

Growing irritated with the music, he glared over his shoulder and yelled, "Computer, stop track."

"Track stopped," the voice replied in that cheerful monotone so much of technology used. "Would you like to remove from playlist?"

"No, exit program and go into standby mode."

"Program exited. Switching power to standby mode." The whirring of coolant fans slowed, the need for such having been reduced by the lack of power flowing through the circuits. The blond sighed heavily, beginning to extract the wires from where they strangled his right wrist and arm.

"Hard day?" the bluenet asked sympathetically, gently brushing away the younger's hands to unwind the mess himself.

"Not exactly," the Magician duelist stated softly. "I'm more worried about how badly Crowler's gonna flip a shit when he finds out I can't make a dueling machine to defeat Jaden Yuki, the boy relies too much on chance than on actual skill in his deck."

"I'll defend you," the Cyber duelist replied. "I'll always have your back, Ren."

* * *

><p>He couldn't understand why Magician'sKey wasn't responding to him. Had he scared the other off? Had the other guessed his feelings? Had something bad happened to the other? He couldn't help but worry about the boy he had only ever met online. It was his nature. At this point, he didn't let his PDA leave his side, the silence remaining on his mind. <em>I don't even care if I'm in a duel… I'd interrupt it in a heartbeat for you… Key… come back to me, please. I'm sorry. I just want to have you back.<em>

* * *

><p>Kieran sighed, pulling his eyepiece off and discarding it to his desk, fingers tapping the button on his speakers as he returned from a detention with Crowler—the teacher had wanted to give him a month's worth for his failure, but Zane's word had shortened the time down to only a week. "Welcome back, Kieran," the computer chirped in false cheer. "Duel beginning between one unknown duelist, deck Australian, and one Amadeus Huffington."<p>

"Record the duel," he stated. Taking one look over at the pile of work on the table, he made a face and turned his back. He'd rather sleep for a little bit than deal with the hulking pile at this particular moment.

He kicked off his silver Converses and shrugged off the goldenrod jacket he'd reclaimed from Syrus today, the fabric sitting in his hands before he realized what was awaiting his notice on the bed. Zane had lit a handful of golden candles to release the scent of honeycomb in the room, the Obelisk himself spread sexily across the blue sheets, a black leather collar around his neck with a golden spark clasping it shut, a slender silver chain snaking its way over his bare belly and legs to reveal the end was firmly attached to the cherry bedpost. "Welcome home, Master," he purred, clearly not the least bit embarrassed about the leather collar around his neck, the very one that happened to be the only thing he was wearing that could be remotely considered clothing.

Kieran blinked, his fingers going limp enough for the elder to easily slip the jacket in them from the other's grip and drape it over a chair, his chain making a soft hissing sound as he moved. "What are you doing, Zane?" he asked, his brow furrowing in surprise as his boyfriend began undressing him, hands flying down to prevent the removal of his pants.

The corners of the Truesdale's mouth twitched but he kept his face as smooth as he could. "Did you already forget the terms of my contract, Master?" he asked in a flirtatious tone. "Surely you remember that you bought me to use at your pleasure, my wonderful Master?" Allowing himself to fall into this role, he nuzzled the back of the blond's neck as he waited for the younger to realize this was his way of giving himself.

At those words, the Salem slowly relinquished his grip, permitting Zane to push down his pants and silver silk boxers and stepping out of them. The idea of dominating the King of the Obelisks was _intoxicating_, and he couldn't help himself from pushing the bluenet harshly onto the bed. The computer beeped loudly at him, announcing "Duel beginning between one Chazz Princeton and one Sora Samatoko. Would you like to record?"

Kieran let out a growl, his emerald eyes flashing as he spat out his answer. "Computer, enter autopilot mode." He didn't wait for the response before he pounced on his boyfriend, his hands running everywhere they could over the creamy torso while he plundered Zane's mouth with his tongue.

The elder let him, sweetly allowing any restraints on his limbs as the blond aggressively pinned him to the bed. When they parted for breath, he begged, "Oh Master, please, I want it so bad, _please_!"

"Very well, slave," the Salem replied, turning his attention towards the bedside table.

Zane would have none of that. He bucked up against the smaller pleadingly. "No, Master, I _need _you _now_!" he cried, trying to wordlessly communicate that he'd already prepared himself before the Ra had returned, his moans falling shamelessly from his lips as he'd stretched himself in front of a mirror, imagining that it was his love's fingers inside of him rather than his own.

The blond gave a mental shrug, turning his attention towards nudging the elder boy's legs wider. _If he wants it that badly… _"You beg so sweetly, slave," he purred, slowly forcing himself inside of his boyfriend. "I suppose it would only be fair of me to reward you, hmm?"

The brunet whined and thrashed, squirming his hips so that the younger's erection found his prostate, causing him to emit a loud moan, panting. "Master…"

"My sweet," he whispered, holding himself still and petting Zane's hair softly, "my lovely," here he dropped a kiss onto the heart of the other's throat, his lips gently moving over the sensitive skin, "my _ryuu_." Deeming it okay to move, he shifted his hips forward, eliciting a cry. The thrusts to his prostate had Zane moaning like a whore, thrusting himself back on the smaller's erection in search of that white pleasure, and it did not take long for the blond to cry out "Zane!" as he flooded the teal-haired duelist's insides with warmth, which prompted the elder's own ejaculation with a wordless cry of passion.

The two fell to the sheets in a sated mess of hormones, the Obelisk's fingers finding their way to the golden hair to play with it. "I'm sorry," he murmured softly, offering it once more.

In a massive force of effort, Kieran pushed himself up to gently kiss Zane's lips. "I never doubted you," he stated simply, falling back into the mess of pillows. _It's _my _loyalty I doubted… Hero…_

_You should have,_ the Cyber duelist thought tiredly, bundling the Magician duelist closer and carefully extracting the chain, warmed from their heated bodies, from between them. _It was not you I thought of earlier, your name which I barely kept from my lips as I orgasmed… Atticus…_

* * *

><p>Zane: ... Why the hell was I the uke for the first time?<p>

You were apologizing.

Zane: I still think I'd be the seme!

... No one cares what you think.

Zane: Please review to tell her otherwise!

Shut up, Zaney. *hits him over the head*

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><p>Last edited: 1020/2011


	9. E10&11: Unexpected Results

Gold and Silver

I really had to haul to get this chapter up, so be thankful. It even turned from what I thought it would be... hence why it randomly changes gears halfway through, but all in all, I'm not disappointed how it turned out plotwise...

... Don't forget to read **Black and Red**, the companion story, too!

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><p>I thought I'd have more work to do from the actual show, so some of my dialogue is in from <span>Hidden Eyes Telling Lies<span> by **Queen of Briannia**. I didn't take it with bad intent though, I promise!

This chapter has three names. The first two are the Japanese translations of Episodes 10 and 11, the English version using "Tag Team Trial, Part 1" and "Tag Team Trial, Part 2", and then the next one is my own personal dub for the chapters, "Unexpected Results".

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. I wish I did though...

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><p>Chapter TenEleven: "Judai [Jaden] and Sho [Syrus] Tag Duel, Parts One and Two" or "Unexpected Results"

Kieran combed through his golden mane with his fingers, making a face every time he encountered a little snag that caused him a pinprick of pain before it faded, his hair not really dirty or matted enough for him to wash it until tomorrow; he showered every other day unless he had a reason to look particularly attractive. It wasn't that he didn't want to clean himself daily, it was more that he knew Zane didn't care how he looked, so he didn't either. Once he could run his fingers through without feeling any tangles, he pulled on his goldenrod jacket over his black shirt, easily doing up the buttons to hide his dark cotton tee from view. He tried to conceal the startled jerk of his head when he felt warm hands extract his hair from his jacket and even doing him the favor of pulling aside the curtain on the right side so that his eyepiece could be affixed into its usual place. "Zane," he murmured softly, looking around at the affectionate kiss dropped onto the back of his head, "did I wake you?"

"No," the teal-haired teen assured, his hands looped casually around the younger's stomach, holding their bodies close together so that what heat there was to be shared in the latter would seep over into bare skin of the former. "Where are you going?"

"I want to try out some new software with Sy's duel." The blond leaned back, resting his head on the other's broad shoulder. "I know he'll probably say yes, but it's always proper to ask first."

"I would've tested it for you, you know." Zane's tone betrayed the pout that wasn't on his face, and Kieran pushed up on his toes sweetly to press a kiss to Zane's jawline.

"Zay-zay," he stated, using the nickname he'd given the older back in their childhood, "I only recently finished it, and the only duel that you _might _have had a chance of testing it on was that one against Jaden." The Obelisk winced slightly at the mention of the duel that had angered his lover so. "I'm just taking advantage of the current situation is all. I'd bet Crowler got them a really good opponent, so any extra data I can get'll likely do me some good." He idly traced patterns on Zane's chest with his finger, starting when he ran into the slender chain draping slightly from where it was attached to the collar still around his boyfriend's neck. Raising an eyebrow as he reached up to toy with the dark leather, he couldn't contain a soft "Couldn't take it off, Zay?"

The elder chuckled. "Hardly. You just seemed to like it so much… and besides, my clothes are in the closet."

"Hmm," the Salem hummed, "how did you even know that I would have sex with you if I was dominate?"

"I didn't," the Truesdale admitted, a soft blush highlighting along his cheekbones. "I just figured that, like me, you'd be more comfortable in a position where you set the rules and pace."

Kieran laughed, extracting himself from the other's arms. "You, my dear Zay-zay, are something else," he admitted, using the collar to yank the Cyber duelist down to the proper height to bestow a kiss. "I'll see you at the duel later, okay?"

He smiled gently, unbuckling the collar as he watched the Magician duelist walk, his pale blue eyes more specifically focused on the seductive, albeit unintentionally so, swing of those white-clad hips. "Always."

* * *

><p>"The Tag Duel will begin in just a few moments, and remember, these are test conditions! This is a sudden expulsion match!"<p>

"Syrus!" Kieran cried, panting hard as he tackled the little sky-haired boy in a hug, "Thank Ra I found you!"

Syrus laughed, struggling lightly but making no real effort to escape the Ra's hold. "Aw cut it out, Ren, I have to go on soon!"

Kieran pulled back, blinking as he looked at the taller brunet. "So you're Jaden Yuki," he murmured, holding out his hand. "I'm Kieran Salem."

"Nice to meet'cha!" Jaden stated, shaking the pro-offered hand. "So how do you know Sy?"

"I'm an old friends of his brother's," he admitted sheepishly, putting his hands in his pocket, shaking his hair back though he was careful to keep his eyepiece concealed.

"No way!" Jaden cried, "You were friends with _Zane?_"

The blond blushed, ducking his head slightly. "Actually, we're dating now, but that's not why I came here." He reached into his pocket, pulling out a pair of electrodes. "I wanted to hook you guys up with these for your duel."

"What are they?" Syrus asked warily, not liking their gleam.

"Relax, Sy," the Magician duelist chuckled. "I wouldn't give them to you if they were dangerous. They're more advanced data-readers, meant to hack into the system of your duel disk and channel the card information into my hard drives."

"Whaaa?" Jaden blurted, clearly lost.

"Oh," Syrus replied, understanding perfectly, "you mean you want to know the contents of our decks as we're dueling for your database on strategies and such, right?"

"Not really," the Salem answered, pulling his hair back now to show his scanner. "I actually want to see your hands so that I can have a baseline to program my computer's dueling logic by."

"What's that got to do with anything?" Jaden asked, though he took the patch from the elder and applied it to the underside of his deck slot as the upperclassman instructed.

"Ren's into virtual dueling," Syrus explained. "He's trying to compile a website for duelists around the world to compete against each other or deck recipes, but he hasn't really been able to do a lot of testing since he got his eyepiece."

Kieran gave a pained smile. "They always think I'm cheating," he explained, "since it lets me see the field and Graveyard. Sure, Zane will still duel me, but I can only beat him with my Spellcasters deck, so I can't do any practical work myself."

"Well why don't you just use that deck then?" Jaden asked curiously, but the elder boy ignored the question, throwing a wave over his shoulder as he strode away.

"Send in the accused!" the announcer cried, the two Slifers stepping forward, "Syrus Truesdale and Jaden Yuki!"

"Good luck you two," Kieran called behind him as he strode away, seeming not the least bit concerned over their fates. He had faith in Syrus, the younger Truesdale could pull through if he put his heart into it.

* * *

><p><em>Well, little brother, <em>Zane mused, _time to see if you belong here or on the next plane out of here._

Almost as if he could hear the elder's thoughts, Kieran smacked his shoulder harshly as he settled himself on the railing beside the bluenet. "Stop it," he muttered, green eyes focused on Syrus as the younger Truesdale strode quickly towards the center, "you're gonna freak Sy out and I won't learn if my stuff really works." The two were quiet for a brief moment before his tongue darted out to wet his lips in a movement that had the Cyber duelist fixated on those endearing lips. "Besides," he continued, "if you don't behave, I won't let you watch."

Zane sighed, holding out his hand for the other's PDA; Kieran _never_ gave out his scanner. "Fine, I'll be good," he sulked, wanting to see what it was that the Magician duelist could pilfer from KaibaCorp's system.

"Now without further ado, allow me to introduce our guest Tag Team duo!" Crowler announced, his arm raised as two men in kimonos flipped out onto the stage in a stunning display of gymnastics. "The Paradox Brothers!"

Kieran blanched. "They are _so _screwed," he groaned, rubbing his forehead. He already had the two duelists in his repertoire, and from that information, he knew that the pair were _extremely _good even if they hadn't dueled since Joey Wheeler and Yugi Moto handed them their defeat back during the Duelist Kingdom tournament. He firmed his jaw, invigorated by the thought that the pair had been beaten before. "I guess Jaden and Sy will just have to be better." Zane gave him an odd look as he navigated into the program that pulled up the field onscreen but said nothing, even though the two boxes that said _hand _were new.

As the duel grew closer to starting, a soft ping sounded in Kieran's ear, startling slightly though he gave no outward sign of his alarm other than the initial tensing of his muscles. He leaned his elbow on the railing, using it as a disguise so that his hand could sneak up beneath his curtain of golden hair to press the button on the side to make the chat function come up alongside the playing field. There was a message waiting for him in the inbox.

**Key-**

**I know you've been avoiding me lately. Don't deny it; I've seen the posts you've put on those sites to know that you've been awake and online at the same time I was, yet you made no attempt to contact me. I'd like to ask if I did something wrong, that you tell me, except for the fact I have a feeling I didn't. I hope that in spite of whatever may or may not be going on right now, we can remain friends or at least colleagues in this business of tearing apart the decks of amateurs.**

**With the warmest regards from my silent, still-beating heart,**

**Forever Hero**

Kieran blinked after the first sentence, biting his lip as he took a step back from the railing, throwing a glance down at the arena before a quick flick of his eyepiece had him turning on his heel and darting off. "Ren!" Zane called after him, "Where are you going?"

"Something came up!" the Salem replied over his shoulder. "Give Sy my regards, would you?"

"Ren!" he yelled again, but his blond boyfriend was already gone. Making a frustrated noise, the Obelisk turned back to the duel, glancing down at the PDA he clutched in his hand to see an alert splashed across the screen.

Proximity Warning! the screen proclaimed Unfamiliar Energy Source Located! Shutdown Eminent!

Oh shit.

* * *

><p>There was no time for second thoughts; Kieran would just have to hope this wouldn't backfire on him. Magician's Valkyria had for some reason sealed his Dark Magician cards, firmly stating that they weren't his spirit cards and would only drag him into the shadows, whatever it is she meant there. All he knew was that someone was in the dorm who wasn't supposed to be and they were destroying his system. He needed a deck to take them down, and he didn't have enough time (or cards) to replace his missing highlight, which only left him one option. He had to use his Spellcasters deck, the very one that had nearly driven him mad with power.<p>

"Stop that!" he cried, seeing the brunet with the black trenchcoat lined in purple and gold, dark energy swirling around him. "You're going to crash my computers!"

"I don't care," the brunet declared, turning a masked face onto him. "I'm only here because of the power you wield."

The Salem shivered delicately at the sight of the pale blue coverings but presented his duel disk. "Fine then," he growled, part of him already freaking out because the words he was saying he wasn't even sure came from himself, "if it's a duel you want so badly, then it's a duel you've got." Five cards slid into his hand: Pitch-Black Power Stone, Ready for Intercepting, Spirit Barrier, Shining Angel, Cosmo Queen, and Dark Magician of Chaos.

The masked man drew first. "I summon Red-Eyes Black Chick!" he cried, letting the little creature materialize on the field. "By activating his special ability, I can tribute him to summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon from my hand!" Before Kieran's eyes, the small dragon grew into a fearsome creature, roaring and powerful even if it couldn't attack yet. Its owner smirked. "However, he can still attack with this card: Inferno Fire Blast!" A ball of red fire appeared in the dark dragon's mouth before it was shot at Kieran, dropping the blond's Life Points to 1600. "Your move."

Kieran drew, glancing at the card in his hand, Magician's Valkyria. Instantly, the spirit appeared at his side, a comforting presence even if she couldn't necessarily help him at the current moment. She reminded him of Zane, despite the fact that this particular edition wasn't the one the Obelisk had gotten him when they were little, and that was a reassuring thing. It made him calm down slightly from his panic over using the deck. "I summon Shining Angel in defense mode and place three facedowns before I end my turn."

"Pathetic," the brunet sneered as he drew. "I'll summon Spear Dragon in attack mode!"

"Not so fast!" Kieran cried, his emerald eyes flashing, even from behind his gold eyepiece. "I activate my trap card Spirit Barrier! Now I take no battle damage so long as there's a monster on my field!" _I'll just have to hope he doesn't have another one of those Infernal Blast cards, otherwise I'm done for!_

"No matter," the man smirked, waving his hand, "for they'll still be able to get at your Life Points! Spear Dragon, attack!" The dragon skewered the poor angel, causing it to shatter before it flitted over to the other side of the field, hunkering down in defense mode as part of its special effect. However, he appeared surprised to see the glimmering shards of the angel remained on the field before reforming the monster. "What's this sorcery?" he cried.

"It's Shining Angel's special effect!" Kieran stated. "Whenever he's destroyed by battle, I can summon a monster onto the field, and I chose another Shining Angel!"

"No matter," he grouched. "Red-Eyes, smite him with your Inferno Fireballs!"

This time, the shards reformed into a boy in a white robe, a fancy emblem on the front. Kieran smirked. "Oh, did I forget to mention that I can choose _any _monster provided its attack points are less than 1500 and it's a Light attribute monster? My bad!" He drew, his smirk widening at the sight of his card. "First off, I'm going to activate one of my facedown cards, Pitch-Black Power Stone! This allows me to place three Spell Counters on it, but here's the best part. Once per turn, I can move one of those counters onto another one that can hold counters, and I choose to put one on my Silent Magician Level Four!"

Blue shimmering lights happened around him as his attack power went up 500 points. "But wait, I'm not done powering him up just yet! I summon out Apprentice Magician, whose special ability lets me place another counter if he's summoned successfully." The monster flipped onto the field, his staff held high, as more shimmers surrounded the white-clad magician. "Now, Silent Magician, destroy that Spear Dragon!" The boy smiled, pushing his hands out and making the hunkering dragon explode. "Now, for my final trick, I activate my final trap card, Ready for Intercepting, which allows me to turn one monster, in this case my Apprentice Magician, into facedown defense position." _Yeah, that's good I powered him up so much, because after he draws, his Red Eyes can't destroy my Silent Magician since he'll gain another 500 attack points for every card my opponent picks up._

The masked man drew, seeming surprised more sparkles appeared when he took the card but refraining from commenting. "I summon Mirage Dragon in defense mode. Now, Red Eyes, attack the facedown!" The purple-clad magician disappeared in a shower of yellow sparks but not before giving another counter, and thus more sparkles, to the white-clad boy. "I'll set one card facedown and end my turn."

"My turn!" Kieran announced, drawing a card, a useless Magical Dimension. "Now, Silent Magician, destroy his Red-Eyes!" The boy nodded, pushing his hand forward again, this time the shards of the dragon's scales giving the Red-Eyes wielder his first damage of the duel, a full 600 points worth.

"I chain the card Mystical Space Typhoon!" the brunet cried, the spell card coming to life, "and destroy your Spirit Barrier!"

Kieran bit his lip. His Life Points were so low… he couldn't risk something getting past his Silent Magician. "I'll summon out Magician's Valkyria in defense mode and end my turn." The girl darted forward, appearing in time to toss her staff towards the ceiling and catch it before pulling it in front of her and crossing her legs as if sitting on an invisible chair.

"Very well," the masked man acknowledged, "but before I draw, I activate my facedown Call of the Haunted to bring back my Spear Dragon!" He smirked as he drew. "Now, I tribute both of my monsters to summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" The dragon crashed down on the field again, roaring to the heavens. "Unfortunately for you though, he won't be hanging around for long though because I'm tributing him to summon out Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon!" Wind howled through the room, fierce enough that Kieran had to close his eyes and bring his duel disk up to shield his face slightly before he heard the cry of what he could only call pure darkness. "Now, Darkness's special ability gives his an additional 300 attack for every dragon in the Graveyard, and since there are five, he has 3900 attack points!" Shadows roiled around the beast as it grew slightly. "Darkness, attack Silent Magician with Dark Shadow Nightmare!"

The dragon roared, obeying as it shot a beam of black-tinged red towards the boy, which would end the duel. Only another monster jumped in front of it: Magician's Valkyria. "What the hell is this?" the brunet growled.

"Valkyria's special effect," Kieran answered sadly, depressed that his faithful partner was taking the hit to save him. "So long as she's faceup on the field, no other Spellcaster-type monsters can be attacked except her."

_/I must… protect Kieran!/ _A voice cried throughout the room, making both men fall to their knees with a cry. /_I will not let you take his soul, Nightshroud!/_ The words echoed angrily in the room as the entire dorm shook before the darkness swallowed their vision and they knew no more.

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><p>He blinked as his computer let off a soft ping, striding quickly across the room in the hopes that it was his friend Magician'sKey. Indeed, it was a message under that same username, but the instant he read the file, he could tell it was not his friend who had written the message.<p>

_Dear ForeverHero,_

_My companion always speaks so fondly of you, and in light of recently events, I must ask that you refrain from contacting the person you know as Magician'sKey, under whose account I am writing to you without permission. He is suffering as a result of your thoughtlessness as he agonizes over whether to remain loyal to you or to the boy—no, the man he loves, and I refuse to watch him endure pain for one moment longer when he need not to be suffering._

_~MageKia_

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><p>"Ren!" Zane cried upon seeing the blond on the ground, pale and his duel disk out and open even if there weren't cards on it. He knelt down by his boyfriend's side, his fingers darting to the side of the Salem's neck to feel for a pulse only instead to receive a cough as the younger boy sputtered to life.<p>

"Zay-zay?" he croaked, emerald eyes fluttering open.

"What happened, Ren?" the Obelisk asked, scooping up the weak Ra and carrying him off to their room.

"I don't know," the Magician duelist replied softly. "I can't remember."

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><p>Oooooh, I'm starting to reveal some of my symbolism! *smiles* If you can find out what it is, I'll give you a cookie!<p>

Zane: ... Why am I stuck with you again?

*hits him* Bad Zane, no cookie!

Zane: *raises eyebrow* ... Right. Well, reviewers get to duel the masked man, so... review please.

*pats his arm* Good Zaney, you may now go frolic with your boyfriend.

Zane: ... *walks off*

... And now I feel alone. *doodles in the dirt again*

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><p>Last edited: 1020/2011


	10. E12: Formula for Success

Gold and Silver

Surprisingly, this chapter was easy to write. Of course, that may be because I'm starting to give away major hints as to the symbolism and the end pairings. Oh well, can't be undone now!

With my early update, I'm going to take advantage of the extra time to go through some badly-needed editing. Much more so than its companion **Black and Red**, this story has more than a few typos, one of which actually annoys me because it gives away a crucial part of my plot for the second season...

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><p>Since this chapter doesn't actually involve any episode dialogue, there was no stealing going on. However, Mana and Mahado are two characters I never met in the original Yu-Gi-Oh!, so they may seem OOC. I apologize in advance for messing them up.<p>

This is the title of the English-dub for Episode 12. Its Japanese version translates to "Oxygen + Hydrogen = H2O Dragon".

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. If I did, Zane would have played a bigger part and he wouldn't be so mean to everyone. He'd still be mean, but he'd have a soft spot for someone like Kieran and maybe the little midget too.

* * *

><p>Chapter Twelve: Formula for Success<p>

_Kieran let out a yelp as the shadows bit at his face again, jerking back slightly in hopes of avoiding the pain of the creature burying those razor-sharp obsidian teeth in his skin. "Zane!" he cried as loudly as he could, pleading for his boyfriend to save him._

_Instead, it was a handsome gold-embrossed purple staff that stabbed through the creature's head as cold blue eyes flashed dangerously. "I thought I told these bastards you were off-limits," a feminine voice growled softly, causing his eyes to fly open._

"_Valkyria!" he cried, somehow surprised to see his duel spirit in front of him, her form surrounded by a slight halo. "You can speak!"_

_She gave him a soft smile. "This is more or less your dream, so it's to no surprise that I can utilize the voice that I've been prohibited to in your world." Her hands played with the emeralds on her staff as her long blond hair, far longer than Kieran's own, blew in the wind. "Come, walk with me." With a wave of her hand, she created a bridge of light, striding across it._

_The instant his foot touched the light, his usual outfit changed into the blue dress she wore with its lavender ruffles. He let out a cry, briefly concerned about his modesty, but she chuckled softly. "Relax, it will keep you covered, and besides, it's not as if I haven't seen it all before."_

_He blushed fiercely but followed after his duel spirit. "Are you going to explain everything to me?"_

"_It depends on what you mean by everything, but I shall give you as much as I can." She paused, waiting for him to catch up. "The thing is, so much of who you were as a child is now culminating in this one battle. Those struggles in and of themselves are enough for one person to bear in a lifetime, but as if that weren't enough, not you've stumbled onto two dangerous decks that owe their allegiance to you _and _as a result, the Shadow Games that were taken from the world by the last King of Games and are now facing revival… they're all targeting _you."

"_Me?" Kieran sputtered, emerald eyes wide. "Why me?"_

"_Because you hold the allegiance of the Spellcasters and the Cyberdarks, the allied might of the Cybers and the Lost Faith cards, and the borrowed power of the Dark Magic Wielders."_

"_But I gave up those decks!" the blond cried. "I don't want the Spellcasters and I sure as hell don't want the Cyberdarks! As for the Lost Faith cards, I don't even know what the fuck they are, and the Cybers are Zane's, not mine! The only thing I can agree with you on is the Dark Magic deck!"_

"_Yes," a new voice stated, this one softer than Valkyria's, "but even though you do not want them, they have chosen you and as such will not serve any who have not beaten you first while using them."_

"_Master!" Valkyria cried, dipping into a deep bow. "I can explain!"_

"_There is no need," Dark Magician Girl assured her apprentice. "You are with your wielder. I understand completely. In fact, I agree with you that Kieran Salem needs to learn some of the danger he plays with." The other girl nodded cheerfully at the Ra. "And you're welcome to call me Mana, it makes so much more sense than any other name I've been given."_

"_Thank you," Kieran murmured. He dipped his head in return, though he started in surprise at the gentle feeling of cold metal wrapping around his torso._

"_Zane's worried about you," Valkyria stated, reaching out to fondly pet the Cyber Dragon's head as the monster let out a soft whirring noise of happiness. Her blue eyes flickered about the bridge as if she was looking for something. "We can finish this up later if you'd rather visit him."_

"_Zane…" Kieran whispered, pain in his voice. He hated making the bluenet nervous or anxious, it wasn't his intent to inflict suffering on the Cyber duelist and it hadn't been for several years now. "I'd like that."_

"_Just be careful," a third voice advised, none other than the Dark Magician striding up behind the Ra. "Just because Valkyria 'ended' the duel doesn't mean it can't still begin again. In fact, the instant you and Nightshroud are both in this world again, I would not be surprised if it was resumed… only this time, because of the power involved to close it out, the game will take place here in the Shadows, where there are always beasts ready to devour wayward souls whole and not think twice about the matter. And as if that was not enough, with so much power is straining to unleash itself about you, I would not be surprised if you feel weaker than usual as a result."_

"_Mahado, stop it!" Valkyria scolded, noticing the way her wielder had frozen, "You're scaring him."_

"_It's all right," Mana soothed._

"_Aye, we will hold him back for as long as we can," Mahado reassured, "and even then, Valkyria will be there to defend you." As if to reinforce the man's words, Cyber Dragon let out a mechanical roar, blue eyes flashing brighter as its segmented body tightened around its wielder's lover._

"_Come on, Cyber," Valkyria murmured, holding out her arms for the machine-type monster to snake around her body seductively, "let's take Ren home."_

* * *

><p>Zane's pale blue eyes were pained as he caught sight of the body curled up under the blankets, though he was reassured that it was relaxed fairly peacefully rather than the whimpering mess he'd been before. A week had gone by since Syrus's duel, but yet Kieran had not yet awoken from his slumber, but according to the school nurse—yes, he'd become worried enough to pick the blond Ra up bridal style and carry him across campus to the infirmary, anyone who saw him and decided to bother his lover about it could go straight to hell as far as he was concerned—there was nothing they could do about it since the problem seemed to be psychological rather than physical. "Ren," he whispered softly, smoothing the golden locks back from where they were tickling his younger lover's nose. "Ren, come back to me, please. I don't think my heart could take it if I lost you too."<p>

Underneath his hand, the blond stirred, nuzzling the hand left on his cheek, but Zane thought nothing of it. Kieran would always respond to his touch, so he didn't feel guilty about turning his back and sitting down at his desk to get a start on the work he'd been neglecting while taking care of his comatose lover. The Obelisk couldn't, however, miss the soft whisper of "Zane?" over the sound of his pencil scritching against the paper.

He wheeled around, gaze flying over to the Ra who had propped himself up slightly with his arm. "Kieran!" He darted to his lover's side, wrapping his arms tightly around him and crushing him to his chest. "You're okay!"

"Zane!" the blond laughed breathlessly, one hand resting on Zane's chest and the other pinned between them, "can't breathe!"

The Obelisk's arms loosened slightly but they did not release the younger boy from their confines. "I was so worried about you," he confessed, pressing a kiss to Kieran's forehead. "You wouldn't wake up, and I couldn't do anything about it… I felt so helpless… I was so scared, Ren." He parted his lips from the other's forehead, tipping back his chin so that he could meet the emerald eyes with his own pale blue. "Don't you ever do that to me again," he scolded sternly.

"No promises," the Ra answered teasingly, "but I'll try not to."

Over Zane's shoulder, Magician's Valkyria stroked the head of the Cyber Dragon curled around her body, her eyes holding a message for her wielder. _Do not tell him of what has happened, _she communicated, his familiarity with her making it easier for him to read the words in her gaze, _It would only worry him unnecessarily._

_I don't plan to, _he answered back, his emerald eyes hard with his resolve. _I don't plan on hurting him ever again._

* * *

><p>Kieran lay curled up underneath the blankets, watching some pro-duels. Zane had spread himself out with his work beside his blond boyfriend, his pencil working diligently over the paper, only pausing when the Obelisk would glance over at the Salem as if to make sure he was still here. "Zay-zay," he murmured from the mess of pillows the bluenet had moved into the bed with the advent of the bedridden boy, his emerald eyes tired despite the considerable amount of time he'd spent in his own mind, "I won't be upset if you spent some time with someone else rather than hover here."<p>

"Are you sure?" the Cyber duelist asked. "I don't want to leave you alone if you don't want to be alone."

The magician duelist laughed lightly, nuzzling his lover happily. "Oh Zane," he giggled, "I'm never alone! I have my cards, _including_ Valkyria, and Aster, and if I need help, I promise I'll contact you on the PDA, okay?"

"All right," the Obelisk conceded, feeling a little guilty for having blown off Alexis the past several days in order to attend Kieran's bedside. "Just be careful, Ren. I don't want you to get hurt again."

His words were met with a roll of emerald eyes and a momentary shove on his shoulder strong enough to push him off the bed had the blond followed through with it. "I'm not a doll, Zay-zay," the Magician duelist informed him primly, cocooning himself a little deeper in the blankets as he settled in to watch the next recording. "I can take care of myself."

"I know," Zane murmured, ruffling the long golden hair as he got up and pulled on his shoes. _You can't blame me for worrying. I've already lost Atticus… I'm not ready to lose you too, not yet._ For a moment, the words bubbled to his lips before they fell back. Sure, he knew he could them—they'd done it all the time when they were younger and hadn't known the deeper meaning of that statement—but he didn't want to look too clingy to his Ren. So he swallowed the lump down in his throat and quietly closed the door behind him.

* * *

><p>A bright smile fell over Kieran's face as he watched the young Aster Phoenix win yet another duel. "He's pretty good, isn't he, Valkyria?" the blond asked, turning to flash a light-hearted grin at the girl. "It'd be interesting to see how his D-Heros would handle my Spellcasters, neh?"<p>

To his surprise, the apprentice's pen raced across the yellowed parchment with haste and fervor. **Aster is an ignoble duelist. He insults his opponents and uses a deck that not only is the only one in existence but also was designed by his father. I do not believe a fight against him would be fair, and thus I do not see a point in competing against him.**

Rather than get mad, Kieran merely raised an eyebrow, coincidentally the one beneath the golden screen. "Aw, come on, Valkyria, I think you're judging him a little harshly. A duel against _his _exclusive deck would be no different from when we duel _Zane's _Cyber deck with _my _Dark Magic or Spellcasters decks. Besides, he's still young."

**The same could be said for you, yet I find your youth does not prompt unnecessary harshness. Furthermore, it is only a single year that separates you, and with his history, he has had more than enough reason to mature.**

"Valkyria," the duelist reminded, "not everyone in the world is me, otherwise you never would have been allowed to become my partner."

She could find no hole in that logic. **I still do not like his mannerisms; they are crass and rude**, she grouched, crossing her arms.

Kieran would have responded to that had Zane not walked through the door then, striding over and sweetly kissing him on the mouth. "Hey Zay-zay," he greeted, allowing the elder to crawl in bed with him to share body heat, "how was your outing?"

"Let's just call it interesting and leave it at that," the teal-haired boy answered, pulling the smaller to his chest. The Ra let him. If the Obelisk wanted to cuddle, he saw no reason to protest it.

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><p>Zane: ... I feel neglected this chapter.<p>

You were, now shut up.

Zane: ... If you review, I'll give you the chance to steal Aster.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Zane: *laughs evilly* Oh yes, and did you know that the "Lost Faith" cards Magician's Valkyria speaks of actually had a different name when that part was originally written and then it was changed since it was a little too leading?

Valkyria: *knocks Zane unconscious with magic* Good night everyone!

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><p>Last edited: 1020/2011


	11. E13,14,&15: Past Regret

Gold and Silver

As a special Halloween trick-or-treat, after freaking you all out with the thought that this story's been discontinued, I now bring to you the labors of both five entire episodes (a double update!), a deck list for you to investigate my reasoning, AND the oneshot of **Silver Pyre of a Gold Phoenix**. I'll warn you that the oneshot contains some spoilers, but if you don't mind, feel free to read it too!

Also, don't forget to read the companion story, **Black and Red**!

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><p>Nothing was stolen from a fanfiction since there was only transcribing from the actual episode.<p>

This is the translation of the Japanese titles for Episodes 13, 14, and 15. The English-dub instead uses "Monkey See, Monkey Duel", "A Spirit Summoned", and "Courting Alexis". I, however, dub this chapter "Past Regret".

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX otherwise Zane would have actually showed up in these episodes.

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><p>Chapter 1314/15: Wild Release! SAL Duel; VS Psycho Shocker!; and Tennis Duel of Youth, or "Past Regret"

Kieran heard the screams from somewhere in the forest, looking up from his work on a section of his skeleton. Putting down his tweazers, he shakily limped through the mess of wires and tight spaces to the door, where he had some crutches leaning against the wall. He yanked them under his arms, seeing Magician's Valkyria appear in front of him. "Take me to the duel!" he commanded, watching as the girl nodded and began moving quickly. She would wait patiently for him to make his way to her before she moved again, his crutches hindering him as he limped through the forest but doing a deal to help him transverse the campus with his lessened energy levels that left him too tired to do much of anything other than schoolwork or his computer work when he wasn't lying on the bed cuddling with Zane.

She paused at a tree, conjuring her parchment and pen again. **This is as far as I can take you; I don't want to be spotted quite yet**, she informed him. **However, the duel should be taking place just over that ridge**.

"Thanks Valkyria," he murmured, receiving her answering nod as he carefully navigated his way towards the other onlookers. "So," he asked, giving a crooked smile as he fell in beside Alexis and Syrus, "what did I miss?"

"Jaden's dueling a monkey for Jasmine's freedom!" the ravenette girl answered, batting her eyes.

Alexis was quick to shut down her thoughts. "Don't go there, Mindy, Kieran here bats for Zane's team."

"It's good to see you again," Syrus murmured with a smile, restraining his urge to hug his friend since he could see the Ra's body was sagging on the crutches. "I still have your jacket and your data cards to return. Zane said that he would take 'em, but I wanted to make sure you got 'em personally."

"Thanks Sy," the blond answered, settling in to watch the show. "I'll be sure to grab them at some point over the next few days."

"I'm gonna play-" Jaden began but paused at the sight of all the monkeys gathering around them to watch the duel. Everyone let out little cries of alarm—Kieran remained silent, if only because he'd seen the primates stirring on his way out here even if they kept away from him due to something they could sense about him and Magician's Valkyria—as Jaden cried, "That's why you're trying to escape, isn't it? To get back to your family." The primate answered affirmatively, causing Kieran's brow to furrow as he started tuning out the others to instead study the mechanics of the devices strapped to the monkey. He wanted to know how they could make the animal talk, dammit!

_It moves with him!_ he marveled, watching the monkey move as he handed back the girl he'd kidnapped. _I _have _to learn their secrets!_ "How the hell did you guys _do _that?" he asked the three scientists nearby. "It's ingenious work!"

"Really?" the shorter man asked, pleased at the flattery.

Kieran nodded. "It's magnificent! I've been trying to make something like that for typing but all I can do is this!" he answered, tossing his head to reveal the golden screen of his silver eyepiece.

The man nodded. "Impressive work yourself," he complimented, then turned to his own experiment. "All right, you flea-ridden failure, let's go."

"Hold it!" Jaden said, standing before the test animal and spreading his arms. "He doesn't belong with you, he belongs out here in nature! He belongs with his family, so that's where we're gonna leave him, got it?"

As his friends backed him up, Kieran remained silent. "Ren…" Syrus muttered, elbowing the blond.

He shook his head. "Sorry Sy, but I can't do anything. It doesn't matter if what they're doing to him is against his wishes or not, so long as they've got all their paperwork in order, there's nothing we can do."

He looked up in time to see Pharaoh run up out of nowhere, jump on a guy's face, and get picked up by Professor Banner, who also picked up the gun. "I've come with word from Seto Kaiba that your illegal work is to be terminated immediately," he informed them, then gave a sly wink to Kieran. "Of course, he also suggested that the technology be given to someone who will utilize it properly, and I can see no better alternative than this young Ra student right here."

Kieran nodded. "Thank you Professor," he murmured, limping over to the monkey. "I'll get to it right away."

* * *

><p>The blond swayed as he finished dissecting the work, his eyepiece documenting everything. Sighing as he pulled up the blueprints once more, he began trying to put it back together, only for a firm hand on his shoulder to cause him to turn his head to gaze into pale blue orbs. "Ren," he heard a gentle voice say, "there you are."<p>

Emerald eyes brightened as he planted a soft kiss on his boyfriend's lips. "You used the GPS thing in my PDA, didn't you?" he asked.

"Of course," the Obelisk replied. He then raised his voice to include the two Slifers. "Jaden, Syrus, if you could take this equipment back to my dorm room, I'd be extremely grateful. I'd do it myself, except that I've got my arms full with this." He bounced Kieran, who he'd scooped up into his arms, to show his point, the crutches clutched tightly in the blond's grip.

"Sure thing!" the younger Truesdale answered. "We'll even bring the other stuff over too, right Jay?"

"Of course!"

"Thanks guys!" Kieran called as Zane started off.

As soon as they were out of earshot of the others, he turned on his boyfriend. "Ren, what were you doing so far out in the forest? You had me worried."

Kieran bit his lip. He couldn't exactly inform the Obelisk about his duel spirit since the Cyber duelist wasn't likely to believe him, which left him with few options. "I wanted to watch Jaden's duel."

* * *

><p>Zane gently set Kieran down on the bed in the Abandoned Dorm, the younger pouting with his arms crossed over his chest. "Ren," he murmured softly, reaching out to run his thumb over the blond's lips only for the spitfire to turn his head, closing his emerald eyes childishly, "you're exhausted. You shouldn't be working."<p>

"I'm not tired!" the Ra protested stubbornly, glaring holes in the wall. "I would've been fine to take a look at that tech tonight!"

"Ren, you're barely able to support your weight on your own," he pointed out firmly, though his pale blue eyes were firm. "You're staying in this bed tonight whether your like it or not." The blond's mouth turn down in a frown, but what annoyed the bluenet was his refusal to meet his gaze still. He sighed heavily. "If it makes you feel any better, Kieran, I won't be leaving your side either."

In a sudden feat of speed, Kieran snatched something from where it was hidden between the mattress and the bed frame, latching it shut around Zane's neck. Startled, the Obelisk looked down to see that it was the black leather collar from before that now nestled snugly in his jugular. He couldn't contain a smirk; it had been rather sexy how the blond had captured him. "Well, if that's how you want to play…" he growled, pinning the other to the bed and nipping at his lips affectionately before he kissed his boyfriend passionately, his hands roaming over the beautiful skin of his beau.

Kieran shuddered as Zane's hands snuck around to his ass, pulling away from the kiss to pant harshly as his boyfriend suckled at his neck. "No, Zane," he scolded breathlessly, his head tipped back. "I'm not ready to give myself to you yet."

The Cyber duelist forced back a stirring of disappointment. "That's all right," he murmured, unbuttoning their jackets. "We just won't go all the way tonight." Even though he could still give himself, he didn't think Kieran was really strong enough to expend so much effort. With some help from the Magician duelist, he stripped them both, lovingly pressing kisses down the blond's body. "Just follow my lead," he instructed softly before he took in all Kieran could offer.

The blond let out a moan at the feel of Zane's mouth engulfing his erection, his boyfriend's tongue immediately setting to lapping along the heated flesh, but with a pointed concentration of will, he timidly put his own mouth to Zane's cock, his movements far less sure than his boyfriend's but no less maddening to the Obelisk. Their moans vibrating around a sensitive part of each others' anatomies, they spiraled higher and higher on their cloud until they both came with a yell.

"That was wonderful, Ren," Zane praised, using the last of his strength to relocate himself up into the pillows to cuddle with his boyfriend.

The blond let out a soft hum. "You were pretty good yourself," he murmured sleepily, pillowing his head on the other's chest and quickly falling asleep, Zane not far behind him.

Finally making her presence known, Magician's Valkyria let out a muted giggle from behind her hands, her cheeks a bright crimson. "Looks like everything went according to plan, didn't it Cyber?" she asked. The mechanical dragon let out a whir of agreement, its body wrapped around the hourglass figure of the girl. She leaned down, retrieving her staff where it rested underneath the bed, and then both duel spirits disappeared, leaving their wielders to their business.

~Time lapse~

Zane had to admit, Christmas with Kieran was far different from that with Atticus. Kieran had dug out the old tree in a closet of the dorm and set it up in the foyer, but his decorations were mainly a mix of what few ornaments he could salvage from the box and a bunch of old computer parts he'd carefully altered slightly to look more in spirit. He played rock version of Christmas songs, and sure he would spend time with the Obelisk both at the Abandoned Dorm and the Obelisk dorm (Kieran didn't spend a lot of time at the Ra dorm since he considered the Abandoned one more of his actual dorm location than the room he'd been assigned in the official Yellow building, so thus it came as no surprise that the suggestion of spending time in the Ra dorm wasn't even remotely considered), but Zane could tell that his heart wasn't really into it. When he'd vocalized as such to the blond, he'd merely shrugged and said, "Why should I encourage a holiday that endorses letting a fat man break into your house, eat your food, leave you suspicious presents that could very well be a bomb or poisoned, and stalk your every move in a very pedophilic way to determine whether you've been 'bad or good' as he watches you sleep?" Atticus's idea of Christmas had been very different…

_Zane looked up from his book to see Atticus running from his disgruntled, visiting little sister, breathlessly singing a carol as he danced around the tree he'd decorated extremely flamboyantly and hid behind Zane's shoulder. The teal-haired duelist sighed as he returned to his novel, a sci-fi page-turner Kieran had lent him the last time he'd been at home; in fact, he would have been there right now had the blond not been traveling to Greece with his parents. "What did you do this time?" he asked, vaguely curious. Sure, he got the impression Alexis was usually mad at the brunet for one reason or another, but personally, he wanted to know for what reason he'd likely die for unintentionally protecting the perky Obelisk—of course, no one really knew that he would've done it whether Atticus had sought him out or not._

"_I used a stick to hang mistletoe right over her head while she was talking to that boy on the tennis team, y'know, the one that has the crush on her."_

"_Hmmm," Zane hummed in response, turning a page. Suddenly, Atticus froze beside him, yanking on his sleeve until he had the Cyber duelist's attention and then pointed up. Alexis was triumphantly holding a sprig of mistletoe over their heads, smirking as she glared pointedly at her brother._

_Atticus wouldn't be bested in this challenge. Catching Zane's chin, he turned the other Obelisk's face towards his own and swooped in, kissing the other boy on the lips for a prolonged moment before he pulled away, the both of them blushing fiercely. "Sorry," he whispered, getting to his feet and walking away, leaving Zane to hold a hand to his lips in confusion, unable to believe the last minute actually happened._

"Look," Zane murmured, gesturing at the doorway they stood in at the side entrance to the Obelisk dorm, "mistletoe."

Kieran scowled, ripping the sprig from the wood and limping off with his crutches. He came here for some files he'd left in Zane's room, not for frivolous ventures such as _mistletoe_.

Magician's Valkyria shook her head, striding over so that her wielder could see her out of his peripheral. She scrawled a quick note for him and then showed it to him. **The barrier between the Spirit Realm and this one is especially thin right now, and as such, I need a favor. An old friend of mine asked that I deal with two troublesome spirits, but I cannot defeat them alone, so if you and Zane could allow yourselves to become targets instead, I am certain you could handle them.**

The blond sighed. "Fine," he hissed under his breath, careful not to let Zane hear. "But if he gets hurt, I'll never forgive you."

**I wouldn't expect you to.**

* * *

><p>Valkyria knew that this was a very delicate stage in the plan. Zane couldn't remember how he got to the duel or how he left, that way he would think it all a dream, but her magic was limited. He wasn't her wielder, so it would be a harsh drain on her to teleport him. In fact, she wouldn't have been able to do it at all if Kieran hadn't slipped her card into his deck when he wasn't looking. She appeared in their room, her blue eyes meeting Kieran's emerald as he nodded, extracting himself from Zane's embrace and pulling on his clothes. She had wanted him to use his other deck, the Spellcasters one, and so he would, but his condition was that he refused to duel in a location where there were innocent bystanders around. "Good luck," he murmured to her, snapping the collar of his goldenrod jacket.<p>

She nodded, placing a transparent hand on the bluenet's forehead and waving her staff. The duel spirit nodded, content with the surroundings, and took brief possession of Zane's body, activating his duel disk and standing him up in time for his opponent to come galloping in, horse rearing and plunging as his own hand appeared behind him. Zane's opponent would be Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight.

The horse pawed at the ground as Zane came to himself, his pale blue eyes unrecognizing his surroundings as he whirled around looking for the boyfriend he knew wouldn't be there before he turned to what he was doing. The duel monster didn't like being ignored, so he began his turn. "Draw! I summon Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke and place three cards facedown. Turn end."

Realizing he was in a duel, Zane drew, glancing quickly over his cards before making his move. "I summon Cyber Dragon to the field using his special ability, and then since that doesn't count as my summon for the turn, I'll also summon out Proto-Cyber Dragon, whose special ability activates to turn his name into that of Cyber Dragon while he's on the field, a useful thing when I have this!" He turned around the card he'd pulled from his hand, Polymerization. "Come forth, Cyber Twin Dragon! Unleash your fury on this opponent! Double Strident Blast!"

"Hold!" the knight cried as the mechanical creature warmed up, a card flipping up. "I activate my trap card Spirit Barrier! As long as I have a monster to defend me, I take no battle damage!"

"No matter," the bluenet replied confidently. "Cyber Twin Dragon will still drop your Life Points with his second attack." And indeed, the knight's Life Points fell to 1200, the Obelisk's opponent clearly having nothing to soften the blow.

The knight drew. "I will add two more facedown cards to that number before I activate my own special ability!" He disappeared, appearing back on the field in a solid form as the horse pawed and snorted. "You aren't the only one who can summon a high-level monster under the right conditions," he stated, jerking his head. "Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight can take the field without tribute provided I have no cards in my hand. However, I see no point in attacking at the current moment, so turn end!"

Zane drew. _I can't use this card yet, I still need the trigger… _"I play one card facedown. Now, Cyber Twin Dragon, end this!"

The knight tsked. "This duel is far from over yet. I activate my trap, Sakuretsu Armor, which destroys your monster."

The dragon let out a screech as it burst into shards, though Zane could spare it no sympathy. The knight had been throwing cards facedown in order to summon himself, so he had thought the odds enough in his favor to attack. He glanced at his cards, then at the field. _I could summon that this turn… but it'd be better when I can trick him into attacking it and ending the duel… _"I'll use my Monster Reborn to bring back my Cyber Dragon and end my turn."

The knight drew. "I summon Little-Winguard in attack mode. Now, I will slay your little drakeling, which leaves you wide open for a direct attack!" The dragon let out a cry as it too fell back to the Graveyard, its destruction and Winguard's attack dropping Zane's Life Points to 2400. "Turn end."

Zane glanced down at his drawn card. _Perfect. _"I activate the card Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Spirit Barrier before I play Time Fusion. In case you're unfamiliar with this card, it allows me to summon one Fusion monster from my Graveyard at the expense of sending a card from my hand to my Graveyard and the opportunity to attack you this turn." He shrugged as he let Cyber Laser Dragon, the card he'd been holding out for before, slip from between his fingers and into the Graveyard. "No matter since I will be able to end this next turn."

"But that's what you're wrong," Gaia contradicted as a new card appeared behind him. "I summon Command Knight to the field, whose special ability gives all Warrior-type monsters an extra 500 attack points, just enough for me to be able to beat that hunk of metal myself." His horse reared, galloping towards the monster as his lance came down.

_And, as Ren would say, that's your downfall. _"I use the Quick-Play spell Limiter Removal to double my Cyber Twin Dragon's attack. Cyber Twin Dragon, end this!" The monster roared its agreement, destroying the monster in a flash of light as Magician's Valkyria stepped forward from where she'd been watching the entire duel.

_Good job, Zane, _she thought, a wave of her wand sending back unconscious as she darted forward to catch him before he could hit the ground. _Everything went well because of your help. _She waved her wand, causing them both to disappear from the room deep inside the Abandoned room and instead return to the bed and Kieran. The spirit duels were over, especially since Jinzo had left this world as well, though she highly doubted they'd be gone for long…

* * *

><p><em>It's going to be strange dueling without Valkyria by my side<em>, Kieran thought as he clambered up to the top of the volcano. _Still, I'm glad she's at Zane's side, not mine. After all, he's not exactly aware of the spirits like I am… _He shook his head, firming himself in time to see his opponent, Gilford the Lightning.

"Are you to be my opponent?" the Warrior-type monster asked, his form a little flickery but still discernable. At Kieran's nod, his cards fanned out behind him as the blond drew his hand. "For my first move, I'll summon out Marauding Captain, and I use his special effect to summon out another Marauding Captain to prevent any attacks against them! Now, I'll place one card facedown. Turn end!"

Kieran drew and made a face. _A good hand, but nothing worth starting with… especially since I'd be damned if he wasn't trying to summon himself. _"I'll summon out Magician's Valkyria in defense mode and call it a turn," he said, letting the girl appear in a flurry of sparks, nothing near as elaborate as he was used to.

Gilford made a face. Nothing he had at the moment could beat the card… "I'll summon out Command Knight, turn end!"

Kieran drew and glanced down at the card. He had a feeling this duel was going to be all about how many cards he had in his hand, so he had to play carefully. "I summon out Magician's Valkyria!" he cried, letting the girl take the field too. "In addition, I'll switch my other Valkyria to attack mode as well before I activate Magical Blast! You see, this card makes you take 200 points of damage for every Spellcaster-type monster I have on the field, in this case both my Valkyrias!" In his little eyepiece, his opponent's Life Points dropped to 3600, a minor triumph but one that allowed him to retrieve the card almost upon his command.

"I summon myself with all three of the monsters on my field!" the warrior cried, appearing on the field in a corporeal form. "Of course, in doing so, I activate my special effect, which destroys your two Magician's Valkyrias and leaves you wide open to my attack!" He leapt forward, slashing at the Ra's face and dropping the poor boy's Life Points to a mere 800. "Now, I'll place one card facedown. Turn end!"

Kieran bit his lip. "I activate the secondary ability of my Magical Blast, which allows me to recover it from my Graveyard instead of a normal Draw." He pulled the card from the slot, adding it to his hand. He'd be lucky to last through, though it would take every one of his remaining cards. "I summon The Illusory Gentleman, but I'll use the magic card Magical Dimension. You see, by tributing one Spellcaster-Type monster on my field, I can special summon another from my hand, in this case Dark Magician of Chaos, but that's not all. I can also destroy one of your monsters now!" Both of the magicians nodded to each other, waving their arms at Gilfried in order to destroy him. "Now, as if that wasn't enough, I also chain Dark Magician of Chaos's own special ability, which allows me to recover one spell card from my Graveyard when he's summoned to the field. So I get back my Magical Dimension too, but before I send him to attack, I'll equip him with Book of Secret Arts to raise his attack to 3100!" The spellcaster flipped through a book quickly, learning from it. "Now, attack him directly, my Magician!" The monster in question looked up at the transparent monster, casting the damage with a wave of his hand to drop the spirit's Life Points to a mere 500. "I'll end the turn by placing a card facedown."

"Perfect!" the monster cried. "I'll activate my own facedwon, Call of the Haunted, to bring myself back from the Graveyard. Now I'll summon Command Knight in order to increase my attack enough to destroy your Dark Magician of Chaos!"

"Not so fast!" Kieran cried. "I activate the trap Curse of Aging! For every card I discard from my hand, your monster loses 500 attack, and what do you know, I have two to throw away and win the duel!" He slipped the two magic cards he'd recovered into his Graveyard, turning his back on the duel he'd just triumphed on. Sure, dueling against a spirit had been interesting, but personally, he'd just be glad to be curled up in bed with Zane again. Hiking his crutches a tad higher under his arms, he started back down the volcano's slope, once again cursing Nightshroud for weakening him in this way. He didn't want to have to depend on anyone other than himself to get by.

~Time skip~

Kieran pulled the conventional backpack he'd borrowed from Zane onto his shoulders, having recovered enough of his strength to go to school. Besides, if he remained truant, it would have only brought attention onto Zane since the administration would have thought that something the Obelisk was doing was keeping the young boy from his studies rather than what Mana and Mahado claimed was a natural response to an unfinished Shadow duel. Still, it was an effort to get around on his crutches, but he couldn't really get around in a prompt fashion otherwise and even then his greatest enemy was the stairs he couldn't navigate without his boyfriend's patient assistance. Of course, there was one benefit to his condition, and that was being given the chance to shamelessly ogle his lover's body as he did the physical exertion of gym class that Kieran had been banned from. In fact, Kieran even got to sit up in the referee chair, which gave him the perfect vantage point to do such a thing and put him out of reach of the majority of rogue tennis balls.

He sighed as class ended, jumping down off the chair into Zane's arms and proving himself unable to contain light laughter as his boyfriend nuzzled the crook of his neck. "Zay-zay!" he yelled, turning his head in time for his uncovered emerald eye to be concealed by dark blue hair, his cheeks dusted by a generous helping of crimson, "not where everyone can see us!"

"Why not?" he asked, lavishing the corner of the smaller boy's jaw with affectionate kisses. "Ashamed of our relationship?"

"No!" he protested strongly, needing to convince the larger boy of his commitment to what they had, or was it to himself? "I just thought you'd rather keep your personal life separate from your dueling reputation."

_A sharp tug on the sleeve of his uniform had him opening his eyes to the view of melting chocolate eyes. "Atticus?" he murmured sleepily, pushing his head up off the textbook he'd been using as a pillow and mildly grateful for the light that had remained on the entire he'd been asleep even if it meant he'd accidentally fallen prey to the Sandman during his late-night studying, "what're you doing here?"_

_The perky brunet bit his lip, his arms wrapped around his torso. "I got lonely," he admitted softly, blushing lightly. "Yusuke's never around anymore and he doesn't like it when I stay with him even though he knows I get… jumpy when it's like this."_

"_Huh?" the bluenet said confusedly before a bright flash of light came from the window along with the deafening crash of thunder that had the surfer burrowing into his arms. He'd forgotten how Atticus was terrified of thunder and hated to be alone during storms like this one, which if his memory served was actually a hurricane. He sighed, wrapping his arms around the other boy and carrying him awkwardly to his bed, laying Atticus down and covering him before turning._

_A hand around his wrist and a soft plea of "Zaney?" had him turning back around to look at the childish teen hiding in his blankets._

"_It's all right, Atty," he murmured, reaching around with his free hand to stroke his friend's hair. "I'm just going to turn off the light and then I'll be right there beside you, promise."_

_The brunet considered it for a long moment before relinquishing the his prize. "Okay," he whispered, carefully tracking Zane's movements until the Truesdale was sitting on the bed, letting him rest his head in the other's lap. "Zaney?" he asked, his voice tentative, "will you cuddle with me?"_

_The bluenet was surprised by the question but nonetheless crawled down into the blankets, wrapping his arms around the brunet and pulling him close to his chest. "Like this?" he asked, receiving a nod for his trouble and a snuggling surfer as his prize._

"_Yusuke doesn't let me cuddle him," he confessed in a vulnerable voice, words muffled slightly by Zane's shoulder but still perfectly understandable to the Cyber duelist, "he says it'll foster the need to do it in public, which'll make us both look weak."_

"It's the small things that make all the difference," Zane murmured thoughtfully, resting his chin on Kieran's head after he set the blond on his own two feet, "and I want to be able to do all of them without giving a damn about what anyone else says about it."

* * *

><p>"You!" a short-haired boy cried, Kieran turning his head from where he was navigating through the hallways, his crutches splayed to either side as he paused by a door, his destination, the nearest stairs, where he would wait for his boyfriend to carry him down them, having been put on hold by the word. "You're Kieran Salem right?"<p>

"Yes," he confirmed, gesturing with his head for the boy to walk beside him. "If you don't mind, who's asking?"

"Harrington Rosewood."

The blond Ra nodded. "I've heard of you," he admitted, his emerald eyes sly as he recollected the duels he recorded on the male with the obsession with tennis. "The talk of the school says you're as good as Zane."

"You've dueled the King of the Obelisk Dorm," the tennis captain stated. "Tell me, do you think I could defeat him?"

He reached into his pocket to pull out his deck for inspection, but Kieran shook his head. "Don't bother, I've watched you duel enough times to know your cards."

"Of course," Harrington said, his hand dropping to his side. "I forgot for a moment that you were the boy with the strange scanner who handed Zane that stunning defeat four years ago. You have a Spellcasters deck if I'm not mistaken."

Kieran chuckled dryly. "I did," he replied. "I use a Dark Magic one now." Remembering the original question, he sobered. "You couldn't do it."

"Pardon?" the sports star asked, his brow furrowed, obviously not used to being denied what he wanted.

"Zane would tear you to pieces," the Ra clarified. "You aren't a match for him."

"You're just saying that because he's your boyfriend!" Harrington yelled, black eyes glinting darkly when Kieran turned to look at him, an amused smile playing at the edges of the Magician duelist's mouth even if he thought it fear or embarrassment. "Yeah, that's right, I saw you two getting all lovey-dovey on the court after the class was over, and there's nothing you can do about it!"

"You're right about the last part," the blond responded. "Zane may be mine, but the thing is, my boyfriend or not, he'd still kick your ass just like Jaden Yuki did."

* * *

><p>Zane: ... Why am I still without my Atty?<p>

Atty: ... Because Die's a heartless bitch.

Zane: Atty! *cuddles to his chest happily*

... Review!

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><p>Last edited: 1031/2011


	12. E16&17: Present in Debt

Gold and Silver

Blah blah blah, this is a double update, the next chapter is a deck list, please read the oneshot **Silver Pyre of a Gold Phoenix** and the companion story **Black and Red**.

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><p>Once again, there was no stealing from someone else's story, just from the actual episode's dialogue.<p>

This is the title of the English-dub for Episodes 16 and 17 (the second half of this double-update). Its Japanese version translates to "King Goblin of the Dark Night" and "Draw! Draw! Draw!". My own personal chapter title is "Present in Debt"

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX otherwise there wouldn't be so much filler.

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><p>Chapter 1516: The Duel Giant and Nature of the Draw or "Present in Debt"

"Kieran!"

The blond turned his head. "Yes Professor Sartyr?" he asked, cocking his head at his head teacher in confusion. The man had never had anything important for him before, so it peaked his curiosity as to what he wanted.

"I would like you to start tutoring some students in dueling," he asked. "Now I know your expertise have lain in technology over the past several years, but you're still one of the few duelists to date who's been able to defeat Zane. Even better, the kid has a major bout of stage fright, so it might do him some good to work with someone who won't push him too hard to duel in public."

"Who are you talking about?" the Magician duelist asked. "I'd be happy to tutor him, and I'm sure Zane would even lend a hand if I asked him to, but I can't do that if you don't tell me who it is."

"Brier Kohara." The teacher pointed out a little black-haired boy sitting beside a very tall one. "That's him over there with his friend Beauregard Ohara."

He bit his lip, thinking about it before he realized that Brier would be _perfect _to test out some of his online work. "Sure thing," he said, carefully navigating over to the small Ra. "You're Brier, right?"

The boy looked up at him frightfully, eyes wide. "Y-y-y-y-yes," he stuttered.

Kieran gave him a reassuring smile. "Relax, you're not in any trouble," he admitted, leaning heavily on his crutches. "I'm just going to tutor you to try to get you over your stage fright." He let out a soft laugh, shaking his head. "Oh, where are my manners? My name is Kieran Salem."

Without warning, a pair of arms yanked him back into a broad chest. "Making friends, Ren?" a familiar voice asked huskily, teeth nipping on his ear lightly.

"Tutoring actually," he corrected. "Brier, Beauregard, meet my boyfriend, Zane Truesdale. He'll be helping me out every now and again, especially since I'm on crutches right now."

"An Obelisk being helpful?" Beauregard asked in disbelief. "They don't have it in them to be nice, let alone _help _someone who's hurt."

"Not all of us are like that," Zane growled, pale blue eyes sparking at the notion that he would abandon Kieran simply because of his lower rank and injured status. "All duelists should respect their opponents, and in addition to being the only person on this campus who I suspect could defeat me and an excellent opponent, Ren's proved himself worthy to stand at my side many times over."

"Tell me," the blond asked, "are either of you afraid of the Abandoned Dorm?"

The two younger Ras exchanged looks. "A little," Brier admitted, "but I'm sure it'd be fine to go during the daytime, why?"

"I work out there," Kieran answered, "and besides, I think it'd be the perfect place to help you get over your confidence issues since the only people who could watch you would be Zane, Beauregard, and me."

* * *

><p>"Great job Brier," Zane complemented as he watched Kieran's Life Points drop to zero for the third time that day. "You're getting better at this."<p>

"Yeah," Kieran grumbled, thankful for Beauregard's offered hand, "I just wish the ending was a little gentler on my ass."

Zane choked at that comment, blushing for a moment before he glared daggers at his boyfriend. "Personally, I think _I _should be the one saying that, not you," he muttered. "After all, _you're _the one topping, not me."

"Come on, Zay-zay," Kieran replied, smirking slightly as he snagged his crutches from where he'd leaned them against the wall, "I think you should be a little nicer to me. After all, _I'm _the one walking you back to the dorms at night so that the Duel Giant doesn't get you." Feeling that comment didn't merit a verbal response, Zane reached out and gently smacked his boyfriend on the arm. "Anyway boys," the blond said, sobering up, "I think next week we'll take it to the Arena and try there."

"The Arena?" Brier gasped. "But I don't think I'm ready!"

"I think you're _more _than ready, Brier," Kieran replied. "You're defeating all my test decks with ease even with both Zane and Beauregard watching. That's why I think I'll make it a Tag Duel; you and Beauregard against Zane and me on test decks, communications open between you two since Beauregard's only here to learn how to make games, not play them, though I will admit you're working _wonders _on my system."

* * *

><p>"Beauregard! Brier!"<p>

"Oh shit!" the small Ra cried, eyes wide.

"Oh shit is right," the voice growled, none other than Kieran limping out from the darkness on his crutches. "What the _hell _do you think you're doing?"

"You know these two?" Jaden asked the upperclassman, blinking in surprise.

"Sadly, I do," the blond admitted, emerald eyes narrowed at the pair of them as he leaned heavily on his crutches. "I'm their tutor."

"But Beauregard doesn't duel!" Chumley protested.

"No, he doesn't," Kieran confirmed, "but we've been working together on some of my data encryption and the like."

"Kieran, please don't be angry," the little Ra murmured.

"Angry? _Angry? _Brier, I went past angry when I found out you've been abusing my lessons to do this illicit scheme of the 'Duel Giant'! What the hell were you thinking, just throwing away both your futures, and for what? A moment of petty revenge!"

"Ren, calm down," a new voice murmured, Zane coming out of the night to scoop the younger blond into his arms. "You spent years training yourself for the same thing, so you have no right to judge them for doing the same."

The boy sighed. "Very well," he murmured, pouting. "I shall continue to supply my tutelage on two conditions." He held up a finger. "Point one: The Ante Duels, and the Duel Giant, have to go."

"Fine," Brier murmured. "We couldn't have kept it up for too much longer now that we've been found out."

"And two:" the blond added, holding up another finger, "you return each and every card you took to its correct owner."

"It's only fair," Beauregard admitted. "After all, they weren't ours to have in the first place."

"We're sorry," Brier murmured, looking down. "I just didn't want to disappoint you because I couldn't duel, and Beauregard helped me because he's a loyal friend."

Kieran's glare softened. "I'm not disappointed in you because you lost, Brier," he murmured, "I'm mad because you went behind my back and did all these Ante Duels." He sighed, rubbing his temples. "However, now that we have this mess cleared up, let's just let it go, all right? Zane and I will still tutor you, Brier, and I wouldn't mind the extra hands around my workshop, Beauregard."

The two Ras exchanged glances before smiling. "We'd like that," they admitted, blushing slightly.

"So it's settled," Zane murmured, "We'll see you two first thing after class tomorrow to work on your skills." He then began walking, smirking mischievously at his boyfriend. "You, however, are stuck with me for the remainder of the night."

~Time lapse~

Kieran yawned, snuggling back against Zane's chest tiredly as his emerald eyes watched the commotion to "draw" the right sandwich. "You've been working yourself pretty hard these last few day," his teal-haired boyfriend murmured, petting golden hair softly. "Brier and Beauregard have kept you pretty busy, and as if that wasn't enough, I know you've been working with a new deck."

"Not exactly," the blond admitted. "I've been swapping them."

Zane's brow furrowed as he shifted into a position better able to see the other male's face. "I'm not sure I follow you."

"Why don't we do this the same way that the whole 'Eggwich' thing works?" the Salem suggested, pulling out his deck. "I know every card in your deck and you mine." Seeing the elder's budding protest, he rolled his emerald eyes and clarified, "it's the Dark Magic deck."

"A game?" the elder Truesdale sibling asked, cocking his head to one side with the ghost of a smile flitting across the corners of his mouth. "Why not?"

"All right," Kieran said, holding out his hand. "We'll cut our decks in half and then take turn drawing from the pile of our combined halves and then guessing at what we drew. It's ten points if we can get everything right; five for a hint about monster, trap, or spell; three for a single division; two for if it's a wrong answer but the same division, which for monster would include both level and effect; and one for a wrong answer but the same type."

Zane smirked, shuffling his deck and cutting it. "You're on."

* * *

><p>Kieran closed his eyes, well aware that he needed to guess the next card correctly in order to win their little contest. He and Zane had both completely run through their entire deck of cards and now, for one last tiebreaker, they had gotten Mrs. Dorothy to choose one spell from a random pack and then whoever could guess the card correctly would manage to win. "<span>Ultimate Stage Costume<span>," Zane answered, feeling confident.

Kieran contemplated a moment longer. "Destiny Draw," he answered finally, not quite sure where he had pulled the card name from. And, to his surprise, he was right.

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><p>Yay for a little more symbolism!<p>

Zane: *looks depressed* Where did Atty go?

... He had to go back to where he came from because he wasn't in this chapter.

Zane: *goes off to mope at lighthouse*

... Review!

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><p>Last edited: 1031/2011


	13. Deck List

Since I do legitimately put some thought into what my characters use for their decks, I have decided to include, for those who are curious, my deck lists for viewing without giving away any spoilers. Since further changes will come, I will direct your attention to this page when that time comes, but until then, you don't have to read this if you don't want to, it's just for curiousity's sake that I include it and to show that I did do legitimate research and don't entirely pull random cards out of thin air when I "play" duels.

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><p>Kieran-<p>

Spellcasters:  
>Normal Monsters-<br>Cosmo Queen  
>Illusionist Faceless Mage<br>Sorceror of the Doomed x2  
>The Illusory Gentlemen x2<p>

Effect Monsters-  
>Apprentice Magician x2<br>Breaker the Magical Warrior  
>Dark Elf x2<br>Dark Magician of Chaos  
>Hannibal Necromancer x2<br>Invitation to a Dark Sleep x2  
>Magician's Valkyria x3<br>Shining Angel x3  
>Silent Magician LV 4 x3<br>Silent Magician LV 8 x3

Spells-  
>Book of Secret Arts x2<br>Diffusion Wave-Motion x3  
>Magical Blast x2<br>Magical Dimension x3  
>Magicians Unite x2<br>Swords of Revealing Light

Traps-  
>Magician's Circle<br>Negate Attack x2  
>Pitch-Black Power Stone x2<br>Ready for Intercepting x2  
>Sakuretsu Armor<br>Spirit Barrier x2  
>Trap Hole x2<p>

-divider-

Dark Magic:  
>Normal Monsters-<br>Dark Magician x3

Effect Monsters-  
>Apprentice Magician x2<br>Buster Blader  
>Dark Magician Girl x3<br>Magician's Valkyria x3  
>Shining Angel x3<br>Silent Magician LV 4 x3  
>Silent Magician LV 8 x3<br>Skilled Dark Magician x3  
>Summoner of Illusions<p>

Spells-  
>Dark Magic Curtain x3<br>Dark Magician's Tome of Black Magic x3  
>Future Fusion<br>Re-Fusion  
>Sage's Stone x2<br>Swords of Revealing Light  
>Thousand Knives x2<p>

Traps-  
>Kunai with Chain<br>Miracle Restoring x2  
>Negate Attack x2<br>Pitch-Black Power Stone x2  
>Sakuretsu Armor<br>Spirit Barrier x2  
>Trap Hole x2<p>

-dividor-

Dragon's Flight:  
>Normal Monsters-<br>Baby Dragon x2  
>Blue-Eyes White Dragon x3<br>Luster Dragon x2  
>Meteor Dragon<br>Red-Eyes Black Dragon x2  
>Summoned Skull<p>

Effect Monsters-  
>Magician's Valkyria x2<br>Masked Dragon x3  
>Red-Eyes B. Chick x2<br>Shining Angel x3  
>Time Wizard x3<br>Twin-Headed Behemoth

Fusion Deck:  
>Black Skull Dragon x2<br>Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon  
>Meteor B. Dragon x2<br>Thousand Dragon x3

Spells-  
>Dragon's Mirror x3<br>Fusion Recovery x2  
>Fusion Sage x2<br>Future Fusion  
>Polymerization x3<br>Swords of Revealing Light

Traps-  
>Sakuretsu Armor x2<br>Spirit Barrier x3  
>Trap Hole x3<p>

* * *

><p>Ja ne!<p> 


	14. E18&19: Future Unmet

Gold and Silver

Wow, I'm getting good at this. All right, these next three chapters or so are gonna be really busy because Zane plays a big part in them. As a result, I have actual dialogue and scenes to work with and manipulate, so you'll see a little more canon interaction than before. You'll also see a little bit of a darker Kieran, so be warned, he's going to seem a lot less Mary-Sue-ish (which I'm pretty sure he does right now...) soon!

Please remember to read the oneshots that go with this series in addition to the sister story **Black and Red**!

One final note for those of you who read **Broken Halo**: the poll over how I do the remastering is going down by the next update, so go vote on it!

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><p>I only transcribed from the actual episode, so don't screw me over for borrowing someone else's dialogue to achieve the same effect because I didn't do that this chapter.<p>

This is the translation of the Japanese titles for Episodes 18 and 19. The English-dub instead uses "The King of the Copycats, Parts 1 and 2". I, however, have named this chapter "Future Unmet".

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX otherwise Dimitri would never have recieved his own episode.

* * *

><p>Chapter 1819: VS Yugi's Deck (Parts One and Two), or "Future Unmet"

_The girl sat in a small dungeon, her sun-kissed skin appearing all the darker for the silver chains binding her there. She tossed her long black hair over her shoulder, revealing a pair of handsome jade eyes as she began to croon. "_Whoooooa/ I fell into yesturday/ Whooooooaaaaa/ Our dreams seemed not far away/ I want to, I want to, I want to stay/ Whoooooaaaa/ I fell into fantasy!"

_"That's a wonderful song, slut," a cold voice hissed from the shadows. "Such a shame you'll never be anything more than a caged bird."_

_The girl got to her feet, her entire body trembling softly, unintentionally making her dress look all the more like flames. "Please," she murmured, pressing her emaciated form against the bars, "let me out, I beg of you. He's going to suffer because of your selfishness."_

_Her captor scoffed. "Oh what do you know of these things, these matters of the heart?" The door closed, the one that had been casting moonlight onto the girl, shutting her off from its silver light, and she fell to the ground, knees on either side of her as she wept._

* * *

><p>Kieran excitedly bounced around inside the circle of Zane's arms, delighted with the prospect of seeing Yugi's deck. "Calm down, Ren," he chuckled, letting his thumb rub reassuring circles into the younger boy's hands. "The exhibit isn't until tomorrow, you know."<p>

"Yeah, well, you can't blame me for being excited!" the blond bubbled. "For someone like me who lives for others decks, I'm excited to be able to take a look at the deck after the exhibit's done." He beamed, taking immense satisfaction in his turn of luck. "Apparently, word got around to Yugi about my scanner and what it does, and he agreed to let me add his first deck to my archives provided I don't take any of the cards."

"That's great," Zane murmured, nuzzling his boyfriend's neck. "I can't wait to test against the deck once you get that AI up and functional."

"Good luck with that," he grumbled, "I'm probably gonna have to start with just remastering my own before I can ever hope to try Yugi's, just so that I don't feel like I'm abusing his deck."

Zane chuckled. "Only _you _would be more concerned about disrespecting the deck but not really give a damn about the owner," he teased, tapping the Magician duelist's nose.

"Hey!" Kieran protested, "I do too care about the duelist! I just think a deck's more temperamental than a person, that's all!"

"Mmmm," the Cyber duelist hummed, "How mad do you think they'd be if we took a sneak peak at it tonight?"

"If we got caught?" the blond asked. "Pissed enough to toss us both out on our asses, great duelists or not." As he spoke, his duel spirit appeared before him, none other than a smiling Magician's Valkyria.

**Mana and Mahado's cards are finally here!** she wrote, obviously just as excited to see her masters as Kieran was that they were at Duel Academy. **Come on, we have to go visit them!**

Zane smirked, hefting up his boyfriend bridal-style. "Then I guess we'll just have to not get caught huh?"

* * *

><p>The boy looked up sadly at his captor, turning pleading eyes on the other male. "Please," he murmured, "can I-"<p>

"No," the other growled cruelly. "You're mine."

"I'm not saying I'm not!" he protested, "I just want to visit him, please!"

"No," the male growled, jerking harshly on the black chain around his neck and pulling him into a fierce kiss, one in which he could only submit as his mouth was harshly plundered by a rough tongue. "You are mine and that is final."

"Yes," he parroted dazedly, a tear falling from the corner of one of his eyes, "yours." _I miss you… my love… save me…_

* * *

><p>"I wish you would have brought my crutches," Kieran grumbled from his position on Zane's back, legs wrapped around the elder's waist and arms around his neck in a gentle chokehold. "I hate feeling helpless."<p>

"Yeah, well, I'm not all too fond of carrying you around everywhere either," the Obelisk retorted, though experience told the Ra that he was only joking when he said that. His arms shifted slightly underneath the blond's thighs, trying to keep the circulation going without dropping his boyfriend. "Alexis?" he blurted, the surprise of seeing his fellow Obelisk causing his arms to go slack and accidentally send his sweet boyfriend toppling to the floor. "Sorry Ren," he murmured, instantly turning to pull the Ra to his feet.

"You two come to see the exhibit as well?" Alexis asked, not wanting to say anything about how furious she was that the two were dating despite the fact she knew the teal-haired Obelisk had a soft spot for her brother.

"I couldn't sleep without knowing they got to the island all right," Kieran murmured, blushing slightly even if it wasn't entirely true. He had come because he was worried about Mana and Mahado, he had become rather fond of the two magicians and thus had gained a closer bond to his Dark Magic deck over the past few weeks. As he spoke, his eyescreen lit up, coming to life in front of his emerald eye. "Huh?" he murmured in surprise, hand coming up to press the button on the side, where it froze, emerald eyes wide.

"Is something wrong?" Alexis asked, noticing his preoccupation.

"That bastard!" Kieran growled, stalking off rather quickly in the direction of the docks, though it was obvious he would tire at the same rate, Valkyria's message running through his head as he walked. "Dimitri took Yugi's deck!"

"How do you know?" Alexis asked, Zane a few steps behind her but moving faster in order to scoop his boyfriend up into his arms.

"Because I can pick up his duel with it against Jaden."

* * *

><p>He sat up abruptly, panting harshly and his fine black sheets wrapped tightly around his body. It took him a moment or two to realize where he really was before he began to calm, looking around his bedroom. <em>It was all… just a dream… <em>He sighed, bringing up a hand to run through his hair, which had been turned black with the lack of light falling into his room. _It all seemed so realistic… but then, why was I in a cage? And who was it who was singing to me? _He sighed again, glancing towards where he knew his desk was with the slender laptop sitting on its polished surface, beckoning him from his warm sheets towards the warmth brought to him from tender words, but he didn't heed it, instead settling back against his pillow with his back turned towards the desk as he dropped off to sleep again. _Key… I'm sorry…_

* * *

><p>Dimitri fell to his knees, the duel concluded and ending in his loss. "I've been beaten," he murmured, sinking down, "even with my…" he broke off, his voice losing that deeper quality he was infusing it with, "with Yugi's legendary cards." He scrunched his eyes shut to try to stop the threat of tears from spilling over the edge of his eyes. "What's wrong with me? Why can't I ever win?"<p>

"The answer to that is obvious," Zane said, striding out with Alexis at his side and Kieran in his arms, the blond with emerald eyes shut tight and his face buried in his boyfriend's shoulder, the way it'd been for the entire duel, almost as if he was being attacked by something.

"Hey, you're Zane," the boy said, straightening. "And that's Kieran there in your arms, right? What's wrong with him?"

"Big bro?" Syrus blurted, shocked, "Ren?"

"Why are you guys here?" Jaden asked, the only one able to see the girl standing beside the two males and stroking the golden hair of her wielder.

The Salem groaned, burying his face deeper into his boyfriend's chest. "He has a really mad migraine and doesn't feel like interacting with anyone right now," the Obelisk answered, his arms tight around his love interest to steady and comfort the younger boy as he answered Jaden's question. "Why else? To see the deck, but it was gone."

Alexis smiled mischievously, her heart lightened slightly to see the way the redhead beside Bastion was leaning on the mathematician for support. "We snuck into the event hall and saw how the display case was broken into. We figured the thief couldn't have gotten far, so we decided to take a look around."

Kieran gave her a weak glare for completely ignoring the part he'd played; if they hadn't tapped into his scanner, they wouldn't have known where to look, but he looked up at Zane's voice. "Which led us here." The edges of a smile teased his mouth, mostly in relief that his lover was coming around. "We found you a while ago but didn't want to interrupt the duel."

"Mainly because I would have taken your heads off for it," Kieran grumbled, receiving an elbow to his side from Alexis.

"Kind of you," Bastion commented, smiling warmly at the red-haired boy who clung to his arm, clearly suffering from a similar ailment as Kieran was, albeit without the support of a duel spirit to soothe him.

"Wait, then you saw it all?" Jaden blurted in surprise. "Me and Dimitri, the whole duel?"

"Honestly," Kieran muttered under his breath, "with the amount of spirit energy Mana and Mahado were putting out, how could we not?"

"Not just us," Zane murmured, not hearing his boyfriend's words, "your match attracted quite a bit of attention." He and Alexis turned to reveal the majority of the students at Duel Academy standing out by the cliffs, muttering among themselves.

"What now?" Dimitri said, still on his knees.

"Now I kick your ass for disrespecting the spirits of every card in that deck!" Kieran growled, squirming in Zane's arms as the Obelisk tightened his grip on the blond spitfire.

"Ren," he murmured, "don't. I'm pretty sure he's learned his lesson." The Ra settled again, crossing his arms and harrumphing. "Well kid, the punishment for stealing has always been crystal clear: straight-up expulsion." Kieran looked positively gleeful, smirking, but the teal-haired boy wasn't finished. "But still, since I think pretty much everyone here enjoyed seeing Yugi's deck in a duel rather than a display case, I doubt anyone will turn you in."

Kieran opened his mouth to argue, but the Obelisk captured it in a swift kiss that no one save the two of them and maybe Alexis would have been certain of. "What difference does it make?" the defeated boy bemoaned. "I lost."

"You did," Jaden said, injecting his opinion, "but you didn't lose. That person you were pretending to be did, Dimitri."

"Yugi?" the Ra asked confusedly.

"Nah, bro, you can never beat Yugi," the brunet said, rubbing his nose slyly.

"Then who was I?" Kieran and Dimitri looked equally confused, though the blond wasn't focusing on it since he was too busy studying his duel spirit instead, the girl playing with her staff with an innocent smile on her face.

"Don't be like that," he hissed in an undertone, careful to pitch his voice so that his boyfriend couldn't hear it. "You're just as responsible for this as he is, and what's worse, _you _didn't try to stop the spirits from being angry over having been taken while Dimitri didn't even know what he had done."

"Let me attempt to interpret for him, Dimitri," Zane murmured, bringing the elder Ra's attention back to the situation at hand. "You'll never win or lose until you put yourself out there, and that means creating your own deck and your own strategies, not piggybacking off of someone else's."

"I don't know," Kieran objected, a smile twitching at his lips, "I think he has a real gift for mimicry."

"Kieran, shut up!" Alexis hissed, swatting at his arm, "you're undermining the lesson here!"

The blond pouted. "I'm just saying, I wish I had that good of a memory, I'd have that logic part of my AI done in no time!"

"After all, there is no amount of studying that you can do to be able to use someone else's deck as well as they can," Zane finished, purposefully dropping his gaze to emerald eyes in a subtle warning that only received an indignant huff for his efforts.

"Yeah," Jaden said, "what Zane said, that's exactly what I meant!"

Kieran rolled his eyes. "Sure you did, Jaden," he muttered, earning another cuff across the shoulder from the female Obelisk beside him.

"I mean, no offense, but just 'cuz I beat you doesn't mean I coulda beat Yugi!" The brunet hopped down off the side, striding over to the defeated Ra. "So how about we put that deck back where it belongs?"

"Yeah, okay," Dimitri sighed, getting to his feet, and it was then Kieran felt some sympathy for his fellow Ra.

"Okay people, show's over, nothing else to see here!" he called, crossing his arms and managing to give a decent glare despite the fact that he was being carried bridal style in Zane's arms. "Let's get our asses back to the dorms before we _all _get caught!"

"Hey Kieran," Dimitri murmured, catching the upperclassman's attention and bringing the elder Obelisk to a halt so that the blond could peek around his arm, "thanks."

The Magician user smiled. "Please, it's the least I could do for someone who gave me as much progress as you have, Dimitri."

* * *

><p><em>The little creature squeaked as it fell onto its hindquarters for the umpteenth time in the past… however long. Still, it resolutely picked itself up and attempted to scale over the large dark wall until a black tail wrapped around its midriff, pulling it into the middle of black coils, a dark head coming down to nuzzle it affectionately. It let out a startled squeak, stiffening for a moment before it steeled itself, falling out of the embrace and towards the wall once again, flapping its tiny wings and trying to scramble up the side of the smooth expanse. There <em>had _to be something waiting for it on the other side, but it would never know until it managed to make it over there…_

* * *

><p>Kieran had never been so glad the exhibit was over, pretending to scan that deck had been a pain in the ass, even if he did have a good handful of cards left to include. Right now, he was just glad to be back in Miss Dorothy's café, working on some upgrades for his duel disk. Or at least, he <em>was <em>until he heard the phrase "Turn your game on!" from somewhere around the corner.

The Salem sighed heavily, banging his head against the table the instant he saw Dimitri's new transformation. "Trying to be Jaden?" he grumbled to himself, "_Really_?"

At his side Valkyria hid a silent giggle behind her hand. **Mana and Mahado would welcome the chance to straighten him out… and I wouldn't mind watching a duel this once.**

Pushing off the table and grabbing his crutches, he snagged his duel disk from the table where he was playing around with it, sliding his usual deck into the slot. "Dimitri!" he yelled, "this wasn't what we meant when I meant when I said you had a gift for mimicry!"

"I think you have me confused with someone else!" the boy laughed. "I'm Jaden! I don't even know a Dimitri!"

The blond sighed. "Here's the deal, Dimitri," he growled, opening his disk and drawing five cards. "If I win, you have to drop that deck, and if I can do it within five turns, you have to help me make the logic part of my AI."

"And what do I get if I win?" he asked, drawing his own cards and smirking.

"You'll get to keep the deck for as long as you want," the Magician user said, glancing down at his cards and finding a really good hand. _Hmmm… Miracle Restoring, Pitch-Black Power Stone, Dark Magic Curtain, Dark Magician Girl, and Thousand Knives. I might just be able to beat my promise. _"And if you can do the same to me, I'll let you look at my archives and see Jaden's deck."

"Deal. Get your game on!"

Kieran drew, the card appearing instantly in his screen. _A Trap Hole. Not perfect by any means, but it might keep an E-Hero off and give me enough time to end this… _"I use the card Dark Magic Curtain! You see, for paying half my Life Points and sacrificing my summon this turn, I can bring out a Dark Magician from my deck, so come forth Mahado!" A dark purple curtain fell between them, opening to reveal the monster as the points in his eye dropped to 2000. "Now I'll place three cards facedown."

"Nice move!" Dimitri said, drawing. "But it's my turn to return the favor. I summon out Elemental Hero Sparkman!" Kieran got ready to turn his trap over but paused at the shake of the head from Valkyria. "Now I'm going to use my Polymerization to fuse together the Avian and Burstinatrix in my hand to create Flame Wingman!"

"Not so fast!" Kieran yelled. "I use my facedown Trap Hole to send your Wingman to the Graveyard."

"Aw well," Dimitri said, "I play the card Skyscraper, which gives my Sparkman another 1000 attack points, just enough to beat your Magician!" The superhero shot electricity out, destroying Kieran's monster and dropping his Life Points down to 1900, but at least he was still in the duel. If that Wingman had hit the field, he would have lost.

The blond drew, glancing down at his card to reaffirm what it said in his eyescreen. Sage's Stone looked back at him, the perfect card for what he had in mind. "I activate my facedown Pitch-Black Power Stone! This card allows me to place three spell counters on it, but I'll only need two of them for my second facedown, Miracle Restoring! Now, by removing two spell counters from any card on my side of the field, I can summon a Dark Magician from my deck!" The magician appeared again, nodding at his wielder. "I also activate the spell Thousand Knives to destroy your Sparkman, but that won't be Mahado's last trick! I now tribute him to summon out his better half, none other than Mana, better known as the Dark Magician Girl!"

The master of Valkyria appeared on the field, winking at her apprentice and wielder coyly, ready to do her part in the duel. "Of course, you're familiar with her special effect since you used it so well in Yugi's deck, but in case you've forgotten, she gains 300 attack for every Dark Magician in the Graveyard, and by my count there's two of them." The girl smiled, her points going up in Kieran's eye, but he wasn't quite done with her. "Fortunately for me, Mana has some tricks like her partner, and I have just the card to unlock them. I play the spell Sage's Stone!"

"Sage's what?" Dimitri asked, confused

"Sage's Stone," the elder corrected as a glowing stone appeared before yielding a very familiar monster. "It can only be activated when Dark Magician Girl is on the field, but it's powerful in that it lets me special summon a Dark Magician from my deck, which will give me the firepower to win! Magicians, attack, show him the error of his ways!" Obeying, the two spellcasters crossed their rods, summoning a ball of dark energy powerful enough to knock his opponent's Life Points straight from full to nothing.

"No!" Dimitri yelled, falling to his knees. "I just can't win!"

"No, Dimitri, you can't with someone else's deck," Kieran murmured, limping over to him. "Cards won't win you duels unless you choose them yourself."

"Huh? But I defeated Syrus with Yugi's cards!"

"Yes," the blond stated, "you can do some good with a powerful enough deck, but no amount of mimicry can get you results where they matter. Trust me, I would know. I used Zane's deck for years because I'd intended to defeat him with his own cards, but then I realized I couldn't really win with it because I couldn't play the cards any better than Zane could even on my best day and his worst." He smiled fondly at the memory. "Once I accepted that, I set out to make my own alliances with my cards, and I haven't been disappointed by them since."

"But I've heard tales that you don't duel because your deck's weak," the younger asked confusedly. "Are you saying they aren't true?"

"Not exactly," the Salem said, frowning. "It's more like I don't really know how to properly play the Dark Magic deck." He laughed ruefully, suddenly hit with a marvelous idea. "I know! You used the cards wonderfully in Yugi's deck! Why don't I let you have the Dark Magic deck?"

"What?" the younger said, slack-jawed. "Why the hell would you just _give _me a powerful deck like that?"

"Simple," Kieran stated, putting the cards in the younger student's hands before getting up. "The deck may be mine in possession and creation but it sure as hell isn't mine in purpose." Task completed, he grabbed his crutches and set off to Zane's room. He had a new deck to make.

* * *

><p>"<em>The words were as mystical as purring animals _The circle of rage, the ghosts on the stage appeared_/ The time was so tangible, I'll never let it go/ _Ghost stories handed down reach secret tunnels below_/ No one could see me…_"

* * *

><p>Tune in next time for one of my favorite episodes, the one where I crush the romantic dreams of a small child!<p>

Zane: ... That's rather cruel you know.

Shut up. I choose to believe Blair has gaydar so advanced that she can pick out gay men with a single glance! However, due to her stupidity, she then proceeds to fall in love with them and thus screw herself over.

Zane: ... If you review, it'll give me all the more reason to take her to the insane asylum.

... Did you know that a children's card game can solve problems better than fists can? *smiles crazily and begins singing random songs in off-key voice*

* * *

><p>Last edited: 1015/2011


	15. E20: Maiden in Love

Gold and Silver

My birthday's actually sometime between this update and the next one, so I'm gonna celebrate it here! As a result of this party planning, I may not be able to get another chapter up in time, especially since it's gonna be another busy one, but if I can't get it done by next week, I promise I'll put it up as soon as I do have it done. In the meantime, please enjoy the update I finished a week beforehand in an attempt to clear my schedule for my birthday!

Please remember to read the two oneshots that go with this series along with the companion story **Black and Red**.

* * *

><p>No transcribing done other than from the actual episode, so I've been a good girl!<p>

This is the title of the English-dub for Episode 20. Its Japanese version translates to "The Strong Deck with Beloved Maiden".

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. If I did, don't you think I would be writing this in Japanese rather than English?

* * *

><p>Chapter 20: The Maiden in Love<p>

Kieran was limping his way back to Zane's room in the Obelisk dorm, wanting to fetch the laptop he'd left there in order to check in with his summer employer Madame Kiyohime. He didn't want to encourage the woman to replace him, after all, and so he would faithfully check his email to make sure he wasn't desperately needed at some point. However, he'd been getting into the habit of checking the correspondence while Zane was in the shower—it wasn't that he was ashamed of his job, per se, more that he didn't feel it was entirely necessary for the elder to know exactly how he got his money at this point in time—and had thus left it in the Blue Dorm.

When he opened the door, he wouldn't have been too surprised by an unannounced visitor, but by no means did he expect to walk in on a Slifer red boy _cuddling _his boyfriend's deck case. "What the hell do you think you're _doing_?" the blond yelled, catching the boy's attention along with that of Jaden as well, the brunet standing by the balcony and obviously having just climbed up after the other Slifer.

The boy screamed, turning to look at the Ra. "Who- Who are you?" he stuttered fearfully, eyes wide.

"Kieran Salem, Zane's childhood friend and roommate-of-sorts," he enlightened, ignoring the furious actions of his duel spirit behind the intruder. "Now, I'm not going to tell on you since you haven't done anything malicious, but that's provided you leave Zane and me well enough alone!"

Jaden wheeled around to them. "I don't know what you're up to," he cried, running in and grabbing both of the boys, "but you gotta get outta here right now, otherwise you'll get booted out of this school for trespassin'!"

"Where'd you come from?" the mysterious boy retorted hotly.

"Explain later, leave now!" Jaden cried, pulling him after him and causing his hat and a hair clip to fall out of his hair.

Having leaned his crutches against the wall, the Magician duelist walked over to the balcony, jerking his head to the side. "Go on, I'll cover for you guys. Zane won't turn me in if he catches me, but I can't say the same for you two." He then turned to see the trespasser wasn't a he but a _she_! "What the hell?" he blurted, vaguely recognizing her as she ran. "Stop!" he cried, grabbing her wrist.

"Let me go!" she shrieked, pushing him over the while railing and running off.

The elder yelped as tree branches cut at him, luck guiding him to grab at a couple of sturdy limbs, and looked up at the brunet's concerned face. "Just go," he called, wriggling himself up slightly, "Zane'll get me down."

The Slifer shook his head, beginning to lean down to help the Ra up, but a voice called from further in the room. "Hey you!" a gruff voice called, making the boy wheel and leaving Kieran to only hear the conversation rather than see it.

"Take a wrong turn on the way to detention?"

"Hey Zane, look who we caught hanging out in your room."

Kieran let out a soft growl, recognizing the three voices as general assholes who Zane would sadly have be partnered up with on projects because they were failing, and a soft curse at the fact that Magician's Valkyria was still up in the room. "Come on, Valkyria," he muttered, "hurry up and tell Zane I'm down here, would you?"

"Heh, not just hanging out, he was diggin' around your cards."

"You got some nerve, Slifer."

"Oh boy," the brunet muttered, backing closer to the railing. Kieran may have promised to defend him, but with the blond currently dangling from a tree, the discovery of his innocence may not come until it was too late to escape a pummeling. "Now look, it's not like that. See, there was this guy, well, girl-"

"Save it, Slifer slacker."

"All right, I'll just take off then, catch ya later fellas!" the Slifer said, trying to escape via the tree only for a trio of hands to yank him back.

"You're not going anywhere, buddy boy!"

"Except to Doctor Crowler's office."

"No, anyone but him!" Jaden wailed melodramatically.

"Okay, we'll just deal with you ourselves then!"

"Doctor Crowler, help help!"

Kieran winced, wriggling and discovering he was unable to unwedge his arms from where they were holding him against the tree. "Dammit," he cursed softly, the pain in his arms starting to bring tears to his eyes.

Magician's Valkyria, however, had not been idle during this time, instead directing Zane's unconscious mind to the hairclip on the floor. She smirked. _Take that, you home-wrecker, now that Zane has your hairclip, he won't stop until he finds out who its owner is, and then we'll be done with you forever! _she thought to herself. _Now to just let him know that Kieran needs his white knight to sweep him off his feet… _

"Look, I'm telling ya, this is just one giant misunderstanding!" Jaden whimpered, clawing at the ground and wishing that Chazz was here to kick the guys' asses for hauling him around by his ankles.

"Yeah, then let's see if we can knock some sense into the situation!"

"Let him go," Zane instructed, his brow furrowed. _Kieran said he was coming up here… so he should've seen everything… but he's not here. He would've gotten here by now, so if he isn't here, then where is he? _He didn't have time to implicate Jaden for trespassing in his room, not when he had a weakened boyfriend missing, something that made him worry, his nails biting into his fist. _No, I can't lose another one…_

"Huh?" the Obelisks gasped.

"What?" The Slifer was just as shocked.

"Do you want me to reconsider, Jaden?" he asked in a clipped voice, pale blue eyes frantically scanning the room for some sort of sign of his Ren before they alit on the crutches leaning against the wall, the location of his boyfriend suddenly becoming clear to him now, "or do you want to leave?"

"Leave's good," the brunet chirped, "Take care guys, let's _not _do this again sometime! Later!"

"Zane," one of the boys murmured, but the bluenet cut him off.

"That also goes for you," he growled. "Get out." It took a long moment for the door to close again, but the instant it did, he ran over to the balcony, looking down over the railing to see Kieran nestled amid the greenery. "Thank Kami you're still here," he breathed in relief, his shoulders sagging.

"Yeah, but I don't know how much longer I'm gonna be before my arms give out," the blond warned, trembling hard.

"Don't worry," the Cyber duelist answered with a soft grin as he quickly strode towards the door. "I'll catch you when you do, okay?"

* * *

><p>Kieran stretched when he was done with his work, smiling softly. "All finished, Zay-zay!" he announced, then blinked at the lack of response. "Zay-zay?"<p>

A piece of parchment was waved in front of his nose. **Zane went out to the lighthouse about an hour ago, wanting to question Alexis Rhodes about the hairpiece owned by that girl from earlier and accidentally left here by the same. From the spirit activity I'm sensing about the island, I'd say she's dueling someone right about now, and knowing Zane, he's likely right there watching everything.**

"Nice of you to let me know, Valkyria," he grouched, pulling on his eyepiece. He looked for a long moment at his deck case before he let out a prolonged sigh and slipped it onto his belt before limping off. He wanted to see what Zane's reaction would be to finding out the 'boy' who had snuck into his room was actually a _girl_.

* * *

><p>"Nice of you to leave me without telling me where you were going, Zane."<p>

The voice came out of nowhere from behind him, but the Obelisk would have known it anywhere. "Ren," he murmured, turning to greet his lover. "Sorry, I hadn't been planning on staying out long."

"Humph," the blond grouched, leaning heavily on his crutches as he stopped at the bluenet's side, "I guess it's okay since there was no harm done."

"Don't ignore me, Zane!" Blair shrieked, stomping her foot. "I've been in love with you ever since I met you!"

Kieran and Valkyria let out simultaneous growls while the Cyber duelist just nodded. "At nationals," he elaborated.

"Yeah, that's right!" she chirped, blushing. "We met right after you won the championship match."

Zane remembered that particular tournament especially well—it had been the last tournament he'd entered before Atticus's disappearance and the two Obelisks had shared an intense kiss with Zane pinned up against the wall directly before he'd gone out to win his final match. "I remember."

"It was then I made a pledge that I would do anything to be with you," the girl finished, blushing heavily and looking down.

**I say we duel her now and knock that silly little crush of hers right out of her head! **Magician's Valkyria wrote, the movements of her pen harsh and the strokes jagged with the depth of her emotion. Her wielder, however, merely glared since it didn't seem the girl was done quite yet.

"I remember you said that if I trained really really hard, I could get into Duel Academy like you, so I did!" She clasped her hands in front of her, going for the cute look that she had no idea actually made the teal-haired male want to push her into the nearest ocean. "So now that I'm here, we can get married!"

In Kieran's head, sparkles surrounded her with her spread arms, and he let out a low growl, bristling as his emerald eyes flashed. "Ha, get married!" Jaden joked, unaware of how much worse he was making the situation, "that's a good one! Your honeymoon could be in the cafeteria-" the growl became audible then, gaining the blond spitfire a worried look from the other two Slifers and the female Obelisk "-and Doctor Crowler could give ya away!"

"I'm not joking," Blair murmured, looking mildly insulted.

Zane, not particularly wanting a murder on his hands, intervened, for Blair's sake. "Calm down, Ren," he murmured, nudging his lover's side. "I'm not going anywhere."

Alexis attempted to further defuse the situation before a certain Ra lost his temper and gutted a certain female Slifer. "Blair, sweetie, love doesn't work like that," she murmured, smiling sympathetically. "You can't sneak your way into somebody's heart." Blair looked confused, so the blonde continued. "Just look what your Maiden. She used tricks to get love, and she ended up alone and in tears. You can't use spells or disguises to find your soulmate, Blair, you have to be honest and upfront with them."

This seemed to rub the dark-haired girl the wrong way, and she shrieked, "Yeah right, you just want Zane for yourself! You're trying to get rid of me!"

"Zane, a little help please?" the Obelisk asked at the onslaught of the glaring girl.

"Blair," he began, knowing he had to tread delicately to avoid angering Kieran yet also keep his sexual preference a secret if it could be avoided, "as flattered as I am by your affections, right now I'm only in love with one thing: dueling." There, it wasn't _technically _a lie in his mind, Kieran was so consumed with dueling that he could rather easily be roped in to that general category for this purpose.

"Dueling?" she parroted, looking scandalized.

He reached into his pocket, placing her hairclip into her hands. "I'm sorry," he murmured, feeling a little guilty about the tears welling in her eyes but knowing it was the only way to prevent Kieran from ripping her face off, "but I really don't like you in that way, Blair."

"But I love you!" she yelled, crying openly. "I only want _you_!"

"You're not taking his feelings into account, _Blair_," Kieran hissed dangerously, her one warning. "He doesn't want you and he never will."

"Yes he will!" she retorted. "He's going to be my boyfriend and then we'll get married and have wonderful kids together!"

"Blair," the Ra stated, a vein in his forehead quivering as he leaned heavily on his crutches, unable to listen to the girl's antics one second longer, "Zane's _my_ boyfriend. He has _no _interest in dating right now, and even if he did, he's gay. He likes _guys_."

"I don't believe you!" she yelled, bringing her duel disk up. "Duel me, you liar!"

"Fine," he sighed, kissing Zane quickly on the cheek before making his way a little away from the rest of the group, putting his crutches together before lying them on the ground. "But I'll tell you right now, this new deck no pushover." He snatched the five cards from the slot, spreading them. _Baby Dragon, Luster Dragon, two Time Wizards, Fusion Recovery, and Future Fusion… not the best starting hand I could have gotten, but not the worst either. Since I've seen her deck in action, it might be a good idea to hold on to some of these for later… _He drew, glancing down at his card before letting it be. "I summon Luster Dragon and leave it at that."

"Very well," Blair said. "I'll place one card facedown and summon out my Maiden in Love." The female monster appeared on the field, giggling and causing Valkyria to appear beside Kieran, glaring daggers at the girl. If she had been the one he'd summoned, the blond had no doubt she'd be cursing the little female out, but thankfully, she wasn't.

Wanting to mess with his opponent, Kieran used a handy trick he'd installed in his new disk. "I summon out the card I just drew, Meteor Dragon, in return for sacrificing my faceup dragon. Now, Meteor, attack that Maiden!"

The dragon screeched and threw itself forward, dropping Blair's Life Points to 2600, but at the expense of a strangeness. \_Oh, you naughty beast!_\ the girl cried, tears in her eyes. \_How could you injure an innocent maiden? You're no worse than the rest of your kind!_\ The dragon let out a soft mrow noise, like a cat, and nuzzled against her, gaining a little heart on its chest.

"So weird," Kieran and Jaden said at the same time, the former shuddering.

"Before you end your turn, I activate my facedown card, Solemn Wishes! Now for every card I draw, I gain 500 Life Points!" The little girl smirked, drawing. "Now I'll play the spell card Pot of Greed to gain another 1000 Life Points before I equip Cupid's Kiss to Maiden in Love. I think you remember what it does well enough! Now, Maiden, tame that dragon's heart!"

The monster ran at the little dragon, tripping and dropping Blair's Life Points to 2700. Tears in her eyes, she looked at the creature. \_You truly are no better than a beast!_\ she blubbered, \_Letting me get hurt like that! You should make it up to me by attacking that mean boy over there!_\ The dragon rubbed against her as if in apology before turning on its wielder, launching itself at the blond and knocking his Points down to 2200.

"But before I end my turn, for added insurance, I'll use Happy Marriage on Maiden in Love to bring her attack points to 2200!" The girl smiled, wearing her wedding dress, while the dragon let out an embarrassed sound, lowering its head.

"And now it goes from weird to wrong," the blond moaned, hiding his face as his duel spirit patted him on the back, her eyes closed and face apologetic. He drew without looking, a small twitch of his lips appearing much in the manner of his lover. "I'll use my Polymerization to fuse the Time Wizard and Baby Dragon in my hand to bring out Thousand Dragon!" The dragon appeared on the field, snorting and blinking slowly.

_All right_, Zane thought from the sidelines, ignoring the chattering of the younger students the same way that Kieran was, _all he needs to do is not attack that Maiden and he should be fine._

"Now, Thousand Dragon, show that girl why you don't try to mess with creatures powerful enough to swallow her without chewing." The dragon snorted, raising up onto its hind legs and snorting out steam to drop Blair's Life Points to 2500 at the expanse of a similar scene.

\_You bad, bad dragon!\ _the girl scolded, her other pet dancing around her. \_You think for your advanced age you would be more aware of the rules of chivalry!_\ The wrinkled creature bowed its head, a little heart appearing on its breast.

"I'll summon out Shining Angel in defense mode and end my turn."

"At least he knows to guard his Life Points after setting himself up for such a dangerous combination," Alexis said, looking at Zane as Blair's Points leapt to 3000.

"Ren knows what he's doing," the teal-haired Obelisk murmured, watching as the Maiden tripped over herself again, dropping Blair's Life Points to 2800 and causing the dragon to flutter to her side. "He wouldn't have attacked if it wasn't in his advantage."

"Meteor Dragon, destroy that Angel!" Blair commanded, unleashing the dragon.

"Nice going," Kieran mocked, slipping the card into his Graveyard. "By sending him to the Graveyard, his special ability activates, allowing me to summon out a Light-attribute monster with 1500 attack or less to the field, in this case another Angel, also in defense mode!"

"Oh well," Blair said, shrugging, "I guess Thousand Dragon will just have to try that again!"

"Congratulations, you got a different result!" Kieran declared, sweeping a bow. "Just for your dedication, I'm going to bring out Time Wizard in attack mode!" He drew, grinning at the card. _Knew I was holding back for a reason._ "I'm going to use Time Wizard's special ability! Go, Time Roulette!"

"Time Roulette?" Blair parroted, blanching. "But if you land on an hourglass, you'll destroy all my monsters." She recovered, seeing how few there were. "Guess I'll just have to hope for a skull then."

"Ren isn't the type to rely so much on chance," Syrus murmured, brow furrowing.

"He's not!" Jaden protested, grinning. "He just has faith in his deck!"

"Looks like faith unfounded," Chumley murmured, watching as the dial landed on a skull, causing the magician to blow up and drop its wielder's Life Points to 1950.

"Ha!" Blair crowed, "I don't even need my Maiden to get your monsters to fall for me!"

"So I got unlucky, so what?" Kieran barked in reply, pulling a card from his hand. "It's not like I don't have a redo." He turned the card around. "I use the spell Fusion Recovery to bring back a Polymerization and one fusion monster from my Graveyard, in this case my Time Wizard, which I'll summon out to the field. Let's try that Time Roulette one more time!"

The needle swung around the circle, the focus of everyone's eye. Zane found himself willing for the needle to land on an hourglass, watching it land on three skulls before it settled on the desired outcome and he let out a relieved sigh. "An hourglass," he breathed in relief. "Ren'll win after all."

"But before I attack you," the blond said, plucking another card from his hand, "I'm going to use Future Fusion! You see, this card allows me to choose one fusion monster from my deck and send its components to the Graveyard in order to summon it two turns later."

"What's the point of doing that if you can't bring it out now?" Blair asked snarkily. "You need to attack me _now_, not two turns later when I have another Maiden on the field!"

Kieran smirked. "Oh I will," he said, grinning darkly. "You see, all I needed was to get my Red-Eyes in the Graveyard too so that I could use this: Dragon's Mirror! This card allows me to summon one Dragon-type fusion monster by removing from play its component monsters from my field or Graveyard, and I choose the great Meteor B. Dragon!"

"Meteor B. Dragon!" Syrus yelped as a strange red mirror appeared on the field. "But Ren doesn't have a Meteor Dragon out anymore!"

"True, Sy," Zane murmured, watching as the mirror gave way to the hulking form of the steaming dragon, "but after Time Wizard's effects, the monsters returned to the Graveyard of their original owners."

"Now, Meteor B., end this! Remind everyone why dragons aren't pets but creatures to be feared!" The dragon roared, spitting a huge fireball at the girl and dropping her Life Points to zero.

"Impossible!" Blair screamed, "I can't be beaten by a _faggot!_"

Both Zane and Kieran's gazes hardened as Jaden flinched. "Blair," the Obelisk stated harshly, "it's time for you to go home." At Jaden's half-hearted questioning protests, he let the final cat out of the bag. "She has to go home because she's in second grade." Kieran let out another growl at that, bristling.

His duel spirit smirked. **I think it's time we end this matter once and for all, wouldn't you say? **she asked, looking smug.

He smirked back, grabbing an unsuspecting Zane and fiercely locking their mouths together in a heated kiss. "Come on," he murmured when they broke apart, their foreheads leaned together in spite of the shocked gazes of the Slifers, "let's go back to your room and get some sleep, okay?"

The Cyber duelist smiled, gently pressing a quick kiss to his boyfriend's lips. "I couldn't agree more."

* * *

><p>Zane: ... Hey Die, we got a present for you.<p>

Really? What is it?

Zane: Go to your room and see.

... *runs off*

Zane: *snickers* Tying Aster to her bed has never had a better prize... Now review for birthday cake while I go make out with the stripper...

Atty: *comes in* Hey, where'd Die go- mmph!

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><p>Last edited: 1215/2011


	16. E21&22: Battle Worth Fighting, Part 1

Gold and Silver

Yeah, short chapter I know, but quite frankly, the next one's worth it... Plus, I did something horrible to my back, so I'm not gonna be up to much over the next two days. I had meant to make this all one chapter, well… I had a huge paper and when I would get something done with that, the smart-people-work I had just done had sapped away most of my creativity. Add to that a fierce desire to finish Inheritance by Christopher Paolini (wonderful series, just slow for a very long time at the very beginning but masterfully done considering he was only fifteen during the first book, Eragon) and then being struck by a desire to do something with Galbatorix and Shruikan, my two favorite characters in the series (other than maybe Murtaugh and Thorn), and well… it was just not a conducive atmosphere to write about card games.

* * *

><p>I did all the transcribing myself, so go me!<p>

This is the translation of the Japanese titles for Episodes 21 and 22. The English-dub instead uses "The Duel Off, Parts 1 and 2". I, however, have named this chapter "A Battle Worth Fighting, Part One".

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. If I did, I wouldn't have killed off Zane or Aster during season three.

* * *

><p>Chapter 2122, Part One: Fusion Seal! Judai [Jaden] VS Misawa [Bastion] (Part One) and Summon Wildman! Judai VS Misawa (Part Two), or "A Battle Worth Fighting, Part One"

_Zane coughed as a strand of theatrical fog made its way into his lungs, his hand clutching at his chest for stability as his teal hair fell over his face. "Zane," a familiar voice called, and he raised his gaze to see none other than Kieran's favorite monster, his Magician's Valkyria. "Ren wants to see you." She turned and began weaving through the pulsating crowd in the club, no one daring to touch her scantily-clad breasts and ass out of some sense of fearful respect, though they did not dare to do the same for Zane. A silver-haired boy he vaguely recognized as the upcoming pro-duelist Aster Phoenix couldn't get out of the way fast enough and was pushed aside harshly with the butt of the Spellcaster's staff before she led him to the throne of the nightclub, to which a boy was chained._

_Surprisingly, it was Kieran chained to the side of it with harsh black metal around his neck. "Welcome back Master," he murmured, his emerald eyes cast to the floor. "As you requested, your personal slave awaits his punishment in your room."_

_Without his approval, the words fell from his lips. "Remind me, I've punished so many of late, which personal slaves is it this time, Phoenix?"_

"_No, Master," the blond answered softly. "It's Rhodes."_

"_Alexis?"_

_He shook his head. "Atticus again, Master."_

Zane awoke panting, his arms tight around his bed-partner. "Zane?" Kieran asked groggily from his position of being curled against his lover's chest, face tucked into the crook of the Obelisk's neck, "you okay?"

"I'm fine," he answered absently, fighting back the prick of tears in his eyes that came at the thought of Atticus, _his_ Atty, covered in bruises and cuts. "Go back to sleep."

* * *

><p>"Are you out of your mind?" Crowler shrieked, staring at the two upperclassmen in shock, or more particularly, at the elder boy of the duo.<p>

"No, I'm not," Zane stated calmly, standing firm beside his boyfriend. "Kieran is just as capable of dueling North Academy as I am, so regardless of what year you put forward, I will not be participating the School Duel."

"The School Duel between Duel Academy and North Academy is the biggest match of the year!" the effeminate blond continued. "We can take no chances, so it's _clear _Zane must be our rep!"

"Glad to know you have faith in my abilities when I've beaten Zane myself," Kieran muttered under his breath, reproached by a quiet word from his boyfriend.

"Zane _is _our best," Chancellor Sheppard said with a grin, "along with Kieran too, but they're both third-year students. North Academy is using a first-year." The Magician duelist preened under the attention, unsurprised to see Magician's Valkyria appear to soak up the praise as well as listen in on the conversation.

"Why would they do that?" Crowler gasped, looking scandalized.

"Who knows?" the Chancellor replied, "But in the spirit of competition, I think we should use a first-year student as well."

_So _this _is why Zane brought me here too… _the Salem mused, _to get the best viewpoint as to who to recommend. _He shifted his weight on his crutches so that his arm could brush against that of his loving boyfriend.

"You understand, don't you Zane? Kieran?" the Chancellor asked, turning to the pair and purposefully ignoring their subtle exchange of affection, though the twinkle in his eyes revealed that he was well aware of their budding relationship.

"Of course, Chancellor," Zane murmured, nodding.

"I wouldn't expect anything else," Kieran admitted, nodding.

The man chuckled, returning to the staff meeting. "Well then, the only question is who this first-year will be."

"Jaden Yuki," Zane stated, to the indignation of his dorm head.

"Seconded," Kieran added, smirking softly as he tapped the silver earpiece he wore, the gold viewscreen for once pulled away in a show of respect for his teachers. "After all, my data says he's clearly the best of the lot, and data never lies."

"I agree," Professor Banner offered, stroking his cat in a manner Valkyria couldn't restrain herself from remarking about. "Jaden is our best new student, don't you think?"

**The man looks rather like an evil professor in one of those old spy movies, the one where the villain explains his dastardly plot to the captured hero right before he places him into an easily-escapable situation and leaves him alone to go run off in some sort of extravagant mode of transportation.**

Kieran chuckled at that, but when a pair of pale blue eyes traveled to his emerald questioningly, he mouthed _I'll tell you later_.

"Oh, well, if the cat says so," Crowler mocked.

"Chancellor, Jaden will make Duel Academy proud," Zane murmured softly, "trust me."

"Well then," the man said, nodding, "that's that unless someone has a better idea."

"Wait, I have it!" Crowler declared, spreading his arms wide, "Bastion Misawa, he should represent us!"

"From Ra Yellow?" Chancellor Sheppard asked.

"Yes," Kieran said, nodding. "I may not be at my dorm a lot, but I know for a fact who's there and who isn't. Bastion's in my rank and is another good choice for our rep. Personally, I don't think he's as good as Jaden, but he _does _know how to duel most expertly. He'd be a worthy challenge."

"Yes," Crowler said, grateful for the unexpected help as he strode through the center of the counter-table to stand before the school head, "he's far more qualified, he tested higher than any other first-year, it's only fair, Chancellor."

"Well how about a duel-off then?" the man asked, turning to the two elder students for their opinions.

Kieran shrugged, carefully edging himself away from Zane to begin walking towards his next class. "If you do it that way, Bastion's likely to win since he'll be able to prepare his deck, but who knows, perhaps Jaden will be able to pull off another miracle."

* * *

><p>Magician's Valkyria appeared at Kieran's shoulder as he paused to shuffle around in his shoulder bag, her scrawled message being the first thing he saw when he raised his gaze. <strong>There's a man down the hallway with an aura I do not like. He has a mind to ask questions he should not and will get into more trouble than he is worth in addition to expose secrets that are not his to tell if he is left unchecked.<strong>

"Fine," he muttered, sighing as he moved forward, "I'll go see what he wants here, Valkyria."

"Hey, what'cha doin' there?" the powdery-brown-haired man asked, looking strangely at the blond.

"What do you want?" the Salem demanded, hand resting uneasily on his deck case, ready to flip it open and pull out his spirit card at a moment's notice.

"I'm sorry?" the man gasped, taking a step back at the unmerited harshness of the younger male.

"Look, I don't take all too kindly to those who run their lives through the misfortune of others," the Magician duelist stated hotly, emerald eyes glaring. "So either you tell me what you're here for or I'll rat you out for trespassing!"

"Fine, fine," the man said, holding his hands up in a calming movement. "My name is Gerard and I'm here investigating the missing kids."

"Detective?"

"No, reporter."

Valkyria had been scribbling frantically since Gerard's purpose had been revealed and she turned the parchment to expose the source of her agitation. **This man cannot learn of the Abandoned Dorms, it will bring an end to life as we know it!**

Kieran's eyes narrowed. "Listen here, Gerard," he growled, "those kids went missing for a reason, got that? And trust me, it's not one you want to get into, so either you leave this island and find your story elsewhere or I ridicule you in the attempt and you find your story elsewhere anyway."

"No way!" the reporter protested, smirking. "You're just a snot-nosed brat too young to know what's best for him and there's no chance in hell I'm letting you stand between me and my payday!"

Kieran growled, but he could not afford to press the matter now, not when he knew Zane was likely already starting to worry since he wasn't back in class yet. "In that case, don't come crying to me when you get your hand bitten off by this. It's _far _deeper than what you or anyone else could imagine, and I'm one of the choice few able to navigate the majority of its capacity." He gave his best predatory grin. "After all, how else do you think I managed to get these crutches? I'll tell you now, it wasn't through some gym-related injury." Leaving the man with that food for thought, the Salem limped off towards Banner's class, already planning on how to best fortify his stronghold, just to be on the safe side. After all, Zane would be staying in his own room tonight with a project, it would be the perfect time to upgrade his traps and things to protect his precious servers from prying eyes and unwanted visitors…

* * *

><p>"Be at peace, brother, wherever you are," Alexis murmured, setting down the rose in the corner. She felt rather self-conscious doing this with Kieran standing by her shoulder, but there was nothing to be done about it. Kieran knew Zane and Atticus had been close, even if he didn't know <em>exactly<em> how close the two had been, and he was hardly going to disrespect this little payment of respect to the missing boy. "Take care."

A rustling from the bushes had both golden-haired students stiffening, Alexis turning around while Kieran hid himself behind the wall to watch what happened. "Why hello there," a familiar voice called, and the Salem let out a low growl, bristling as he peeked around the edge to see the reporter from earlier.

"Hiya," Alexis replied stiffly, now glad for Kieran's presence if only in that it reassured that she wouldn't get raped if this newcomer wanted to try anything similar to what Jaden had told her Titan had done, "do I know you?"

"Uh, yeah, I've seen you around," the brown-haired man answered quickly, too quickly for either student's tastes, "look, I've heard some students have gone missing here." Kieran's brow furrowed, oh yes he was well aware of the Abandoned Dorm's legacy, but having been within its walls time and again without strange things happening (he refused to think about the experience with Nightshroud right now), he felt it was relatively benign now, which surprised him since the man seemed to know enough about the story to come here, to his sacred place. "Hmm, you wouldn't happen to know anything about any of them, would ya?"

Alexis glanced down at the rose then glared daggers at the man. "What's it to you, ponytail?" she asked scathingly, subtly shifting her stance to conceal the flower from view.

"You know, I'm just curious is all," he stated with a wink.

This seemed to infuriate the girl and she made it known in no uncertain terms. "Yeah, well you can stay curious," she spat, her doe brown eyes hard as she watched the man recoil. "Listen, those missing students aren't for your amusement. You ought to just mind your own business, got it?" She stalked off, mentally giving Kieran the go-ahead to do horrible things to this guy.

"Okay, don't know what her problem is, but I know this: I'm not giving up. I gotta get this story." He pulled out his little camera and began taking pictures of the place, clicking a few of the entryway and into the building itself until he got one of a gleaming emerald eye. He recoiled with a small yelp, pulling the devise down to see the blond boy from earlier standing there with his hands on his hips. "What the hell's your problem?" he demanded, "I did _not _need to know what the human eye looks like with that kind of magnification!"

"I told you to leave this story alone," the Salem stated, keeping his posture erect on his crutches, "and you didn't listen. This is my last warning: get out now or I'll _force _you out."

"Psh, what's a snot-nosed brat like _you _gonna do to stop me?" he scoffed, walking off with his hand in his pocket.

Kieran smirked darkly. "You'd be surprised what a 'snot-nosed brat like me' can do," he answered to himself, looking over his shoulder at his duel spirit, Magician's Valkyria standing behind him and looking just as if she had just as much evil intent as her wielder did. "Come on, Valkyria, I think it's about time we bolstered Duel Academy's firewalls… along with doing a little digging of our own."

She couldn't agree more.

* * *

><p>"It'll be instincts versus intelligence here," Zane stated, taking a place beside Alexis up at the railing, it being entirely Kieran's fault why he was late to the duel that was just beginning.<p>

"I guess," the blonde answered contemptuously, "who cares?"

The bluenet looked at her oddly. "Alexis?"

Her doe-brown eyes widened as she realized what she said, blushing as she corrected herself. "I mean, yeah!" He hummed in acknowledgement, turning his attention back towards the duel until she added, "Hey, where's Kieran? He usually watches these duels with you, right?"

"Yeah," Zane answered, his hand going to the PDA he'd placed in his pocket on behalf of his boyfriend, "but he had to go to the mainland today. He said something about needing to acquire some special merchandise…"

* * *

><p>Next chapter focuses mainly on Kieran... and what he does in his spare time!<p>

Zane: ... I'm not gonna like it, am I?

Nope!

Zane: Figures.

*sticks tongue out at him* Reviewers get to hug Zane!

Zane: *glares*

Bad Zane, hug the reviewers otherwise I won't give you Atty!

Zane: ... Fine.

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><p>Last edited: 1215/2011


	17. E21&22: Battle Worth Fighting, Part 2

Gold and Silver

Like I said, I'm finishing this half off… Monster Hunter Tri, such a wonderful distraction you are!

Oh yeah, my updates are gonna be slower since NOBODY EFFING CARES ENOUGH TO REVIEW THIS STORY! Until I get some attention on this thing, I'm slowing down my updates. I have no reason to write this quickly if no one gives a crap anyway.

Go read the companion story **Black and Red **and the oneshots... apparently people think the character that I will admit SOUNDS like an effing Mary Sue is actually better than my not-so-Mary-Sue-ish one...

* * *

><p>No transcribing here, so go annoy someone else.<p>

This is the translation of the Japanese titles for Episodes 21 and 22. The English-dub instead uses "The Duel Off, Parts 1 and 2". I, however, have named this chapter "A Battle Worth Fighting, Part One". Like I said, I'm finishing this half off… Monster Hunter Tri, such a wonderful distraction you are!

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, happy?

* * *

><p>Chapter 2122, Part Two: Fusion Seal! Judai [Jaden] VS Misawa [Bastion] (Part One) and Summon Wildman! Judai VS Misawa (Part Two), or "A Battle Worth Fighting, Part Two"

Kieran sauntered confidently down the trashy, cracked sidewalk, his chin held high and his step full of a swagger he didn't endorse, feeling more like puking at the disgust evoked by returning to these streets full of the stench of rotting sewage, cloying trash, and the choking disease of modernization colliding with the backwater nature of his surroundings. Magician's Valkyria had refused to talk with him since he'd gotten the e-mail asking him to go back to The Treasure Chest while he'd been in the middle of bolstering Duel Academy's firewalls last night, and he could sense her fierce disapproval about going back into his business, no matter that he had never allowed his emotions to get the better of him in the past. Being a dancer for one of Domino's top dancing clubs in the Red Light District, even if he was part of the Silver Circlet, the group that was more about the performance than the erotic nature of what they performed, was a great honor that came only with the best of storyline performances. Apparently he'd been asked for by name, and in spite of his stipulation that he worked mainly during the summer, his boss had called him in, meaning this was an important customer for Madame Kiyohime, and as such, he would meet with this person.

He arrived hours early, needing the extra time to cloak his appearance with a dark gold dress reminiscent of layers brushed on with oil paint, and then dying his hair black with temporary dye on a whim. Kiyohime came to him as he was brushing on his sparkling silver glitter of eyeshadow. "It's good to see you, Emerald," the woman greeted, smoothing her copper hair over her shoulders as her blue eyes twinkled. "Tell me, how have you fared these last few months?"

"Well enough," he answered, brushing his fingers lightly over his brow to move about a few strands of his hair back into line. "I found myself a boyfriend."

"Oh?" she said, grinning, "He a good catch?"

He smirked. "Crème of the school's crop, and the sex isn't too bad either.

She laughed. "I take it that means you're not all too keen to entertain here then?"

"Not overly," he answered, lifting his prize collar pendant, the clasp an emblem of two staffs identical to one used by Magician's Valkyria only in silver instead of purple. "But I owe you and this place a lot, Madame, so I came anyway."

A final flick of his fingers turned the white gems on the staffs to a lit green, finally channeling power through their tiny, calculated circuits. He may not have known exactly how the devise worked, he hadn't made it, but he _did _know that it, along with his outfit and occasional whims in temporarily changing his hair color, was possibly the only thing that kept him here at the club instead of in some other man's bed; the crowd that came to The Treasure Chest, an establishment that openly catered to the tastes of gay men, were by no means entirely reputable and Kieran certainly fine enough to be wanted as someone else's personal whore rather than one of Kiyohime's jewels. As if she had read his mind, the eccentric woman asked, "Are you certain you want to do this, Emerald? I know he asked for you by name, but I can give him another of my gems if you'd prefer."

He shook his head, his voice gaining a sexy double-timbre that blended so naturally with his normal voice that, unless someone had heard him speak without it, one would think it was entirely his natural voice. "No, within these four walls I am Emerald, nothing more and nothing less."

She nodded. "Very well, I'll lead you in to my conference room to settle the details of your dance, Emerald." She then paused, thinking. "No, I don't think I want you to be Emerald," she stated, tapping her lip. "Emerald is a summer gem, perfect for those who are searching for some life. You're doing something for the winter, so you need to be something a little… _darker_." She snapped her fingers then, smiling. "I have it! You will be my Onyx, my dangerous little Onyx."

He nodded, his emerald eyes dropping to the floor in a slight allusion to a bow. "As you wish."

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><p>Kieran stepped into the study, his step precise and measured as he once more got used to wearing the black leather heeled boots characteristic of Emerald and now part of Onyx's costume. As a dancer, his every movement had to be graceful and calculated to bring as much feeling into his intended audience as possible even if no one was watching him. His footfalls were muffled by the thick red carpet, but the inhabitant of the room, a boy with teal hair the same shading as Zane's but in a style that haloed around his face more than the Obelisk's did, looked up at his entrance anyway. "Are you Emerald?" he asked, pulling his hand from the spiritual form of the lavender cat lazing in his lap as if he had been scalded.<p>

"It's Onyx now," Kieran answered, seating himself on the edge of the desk, "but yes, I am who you asked for."

Pretty jade green eyes skewered him, trailing up and down his body critically. "Strong shoulders, slender torso," the boy noted to himself, "but obviously with enough strength to them to support a good amount of weight." Kieran resisted the urge to roll his eyes, he was only not a trembling mess right now because Valkyria had, however reluctantly, agreed to lend him her strength so that he could leave his crutches on the boat. "You could easily fall into a natural uke or seme position… tell me, are you a dominator or dominated?"

Kieran paused, blushing but having to answer the question honestly. "Before now, it's never really been a question I've had to address," he murmured, looking aside at the wall rather than the other's face. "I've worked here for several years, but in the Silver Circlet, I never had to think about my preference."

The bluenet nodded. "It was actually that work in the Silver Circlet that attracted me to you in the first place," he confessed sheepishly. "I would take my friend out for a drink or two and we'd ended up here one night by accident. He took an interest in the Silver Circuit, so I decided that I would try to find a dancer from there to be his personal jewel for his birthday night. I noticed that he took particular pains to make sure he would see _your _performances, so thus I asked for you."

"I understand," the blond stated, nodding. "You're wanting something a little more heated than what I usually do, but your friend takes particular delight in watching the movements of the plot rather than the straight-up stripping."

"Exactly," he said relievedly. "And I was wondering what your own stance is because my friend has the confidence and poise of a seme but the build and temperament of a uke."

"I can handle whichever role it is your friend needs," Kieran assured. "In my current relationship, I'm the emotional uke but the physical seme, though I could fall either way without too much of a strain."

"Excellent," the bluenet stated, getting to his feet, "now, if you could do me a favor, could you just give me a sample of what you're bringing so that I'll know whether or not to be concerned for my friend? He lives with a rather homophobic father, so I need to see if any intimacy on your part is _really _gonna blow his mind and make for a good present or not."

"Of course you may," the Magician duelist answered, getting to his feet. "Just sit down in the chair and I'll give you a chorus."

The boy nodded, doing as the elder had commanded and waiting patiently as the blond started up a track he was familiar with and turned it to the part in the song he wanted to work with.

"_Go on, believe, if it turns you on,_" he sang, relying on his collar to correct any wrong notes as he sauntered forward, a predatory swing to his hips. "_Take what you need 'til your body's numb,_" he continued, his stance pinning the bluenet to the chair, their faces merely inches from each other and his boot placed between the other's knees before he spun back, his hand shooting up into the air for the next line, "_Prostitution is revolution!_" He smirked, leaning back in to press against the bluenet's chest as he added, "_You can hate me after you pay me_," and then swiveled to place his ass between the other boy's spread legs as he pulled out, "_My submission is your addiction_." His last act was to jump out of the chair, making sure to swipe the cleft of his ass along the other male's crotch with the finishing line, "_So just get out while you can!"_

"I think you'll be perfect," the bluenet gasped, trying vainly to mask the arousal in his pants. "We'll see you tomorrow."

Kieran nodded. "Very well, I'll see you during the performance. Madame Kiyohime will be in touch."

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><p>"So?" the redhead asked slyly, "do you know what you'll be doing?"<p>

"I've seen Cops and Robbers enough times to manage it," Kieran stated, pulling off his collar. "I just want you to have the two practice first, something tells me I'll want to work _personally _with this client." In his head, Magician's Valkyria fumed, turning accusatory blue eyes on him, but he ignored her. He had a good feeling about this.

"Of course," she answered, leaving him alone to pull off the costume.

He didn't bother though, instead turning to sink onto the bed in his dressing room—all the performers had one since The Treasure Chest boarded a fair portion of their dancers for their own protection—and pulled out his PDA. He scrolled through the contacts, clicking on one with a heavy heart and waiting for the line to pick up. "_Kieran? Are you all right? Do you need me to come get you?_"

He swallowed hard. "No, Zane, I'm all right." Guilt clawed at his throat, but he didn't acknowledge it. "Listen, I ran into a little trouble over here and I'm not gonna be back tonight."

"_Do you know how long it'll take you to get it worked out?_" The Obelisk sounded so concerned, so warm, that it only hurt Kieran the more to lie to him, but Zane had never known of this life; he had made sure of that.

"Not exactly," he answered, "but I should be back the day after tomorrow."

"_Hurry back, I miss having you sleeping in my arms at night._"

"Me too."

The line clicked out then, mainly because the blond couldn't take lying to his boyfriend. "I hate this," he muttered, throwing himself back on the bed. "I don't want to lie to you, Zane, but you can never know of this… the only way I have to keep myself afloat without you…" Across the room, his duel spirit looked at him with a mournful expression but said nothing to her partner. She had already said it all already.

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><p>Okay, lots of symbolizim and allusions in this chapter and the next one, so I'm going to lay down a brief list for you.<p>

Kiyohime_, or "_Purity Princess" was a teahouse waitress who fell in love with a young Buddhist priest. After he spurned her, she studied magic, transformed into a dragon, and killed him.

Emerald is a gemstone that has a meaning for meditation, healing, and business success; it totally rejects evil, gives the power to see into the future, and provides a link with spiritual forces.

Sardonyx is a gemstone that b**ands together those of like natures, links loved ones on an emotional level, and ties up loose ends.**

**Onyx is a gemstone that stands for separation and is used for release, particularly for ending bothersome relationships.**

**The song is "Prostitution is the World's Oldest Profession (And I, Dear Madame, am a Professional)" by Cobra Starship. I don't think I have to explain my choice ****here.**

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><p>Jesse: What am I doing here?<p>

You guest-appeared, so you show up here.

Jesse: Neat!

Zane: ... You've gotta be kidding me.

*hits him* NOBODY LIKES YOU, YOU LITTLE EMO!

Zane: ...

Jesse: ... Um, review so that the authoress won't kill you?

Zane: ...

Review and I'll make Zane or Jesse give you a lap dance. *walks off before they can protest*

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><p>Last edited: 1215/2011


	18. E23: The Little Belowski

Gold and Silver

Ugh, my mind has just NOT been in this... I have no motivation to write this when I get so many reviews for the companion story and practically nothing for this one, which is the one I love more. Still, I guess the reason is just because no one loves the upperclassmen... In the meantime, my updates should keep coming, but in my current state of lethargy because of my lack of reviews, who knows?

There is a companion story to this, **Black and Red**, and a couple of oneshots you're more than welcome to read.

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><p>No transcribing whatsoever in this chapter, so go me!<p>

This is the title of the English-dub for Episode 23. Its Japanese version translates to "Exhausion! Moke Moke Duel".

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX or _For Your Entertainment_. If I did, would I be writing fanfiction? I don't think so!

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><p>Chapter 23: The Little Belowski<p>

"Gah! Jesse, what're you _doing_?" the silver-haired boy yelped as he was yanked out of the car he'd been kidnapped in by his best friend and dragged in some direction by his arm before he'd gotten a good look at his surroundings.

"Calm down, Aster," the Gem duelist replied, pushing open the door easily and shoving his friend through the entryway, "I'm just giving you your present!"

"Present?" the D-Hero duelist parroted in confusion before he came face to face with a beautiful copper-haired woman on a stage he knew all too well. "Jesse!" he scolded, turning on the bluenet, "You dragged me to The Treasure Chest? Sartorious is going to kill me when this hits the papers!"

"Relax, Mister Phoenix," the woman soothed, jumping down off the stage to catwalk up to him. "I would never allow a client to fall into disrepute without reason, and you have given me none to aspire to your demise. Besides, your friend Mister Anderson asked for you to watch a performance be created from its practice here to its conception later tonight, _not _for hours of strippers."

"Trust me, it was against my better judgment!" Jesse announced before Aster hit him over the head, fuming.

The woman smiled at them reassuringly. "Shall we begin, Aquamarine and Sardonyx? My partner's late today, but I can certainly teach you enough to give you the same effect."

Narrowed sapphire eyes glared at playful emerald before Aster sighed. "Very well," the pro-duelist grumbled, giving in with poor grace, "I'm game."

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><p>Kieran sat on the bed, arms crossed as he fumed. Magician's Valkyria was pissed at him, the female duel spirit having come out of her card to yell at him through her parchment before he'd lost his patience with her and thrown his deck case in the corner, having discovered in the past that her connection with him was far weaker when her card was not on his immediate person. "Ugh, what does it matter if I find the boy cute?" he growled, blond hair bristling. "It's only a one-night stand if he <em>does <em>sleep with me, so it's not like I'll be betraying Zane!"

Across the room, the magician frowned at him, scribbling fiercely despite being confined to the corner. **It matters because you are intending to give yourself to him before you do Zane!**

"Aquamarine paid for me for the entire night!" he shot back, emerald eyes narrowed. "It's hardly _my_ fault that most men want their strippers submissive!"

**So? Just because one is submissive does not mean that you cannot still retain your virginity.**

"A prostitute _never _puts himself inside of his client!" Kieran snarled, regaining his feet in one swift, angry movement.

**Yes, but it was my assumption you were not a prostitute, my mistake**, she replied scathingly, disappearing back into her card after her final remark.

"Nobody asked you!" he screamed, snatching up the bottle of temporary hair dye and stalking into the bathroom. He was doing this performance regardless of what his duel spirit thought. What harm was there in a little show?

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><p>Aster had to admit, if there was one thing Madame Kiyohime knew, it was how to assemble a costume. He was resplendent in the disguise of one of his favorite monsters, D-Hero Double Dude, while Jesse smirked at his side, the openly-bi boy having no need to hide his preference like the silveret did. They were even sitting up in the section with the dancers, most of the Silver Circuit acting friendly enough towards him when they were called towards the stage though they refrained from coming onto him like they would Jesse, teasingly sitting in the bluenet's lap and talking to him in a whisper before flouncing off with a swivel to their ass.<p>

"You really should stop encouraging them," he advised, watching the Gem duelist blow a kiss in the direction of a particularly-bold dancer with short ebony hair. "They'll only keep at it until you slip up and try to get in bed with one of them."

Jesse chuckled, emerald gaze locked on the dancer's leather-clad ass hungrily. "Yeah, but what's the point of falling in love with someone if there isn't a chase involved?"

Aster shook his head. "You're hopeless," he muttered, his attention solicited by a flustered Kiyohime.

"Sardonyx!" she cried, running towards him, "Sardonyx, I need your help!"

"Of course, Madame," he answered quickly, getting to his feet and following her. "Anything you need me to do for you, I will."

"Great," she replied, leading him through a maze of corridors until she found a metal chair to sit him down on, handing him a black cell phone. "Stay here and be ready."

"For what?" he called after her, but she didn't turn. "Madame!" He sighed as he lost sight of her, turning to sit himself down at the table with a grumble. He could still see the stage from here through a one-way panel of glass, so that was a good thing, right?

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><p>"And now, presenting our final performance of the Silver Circuit, it is my greatest honor to introduce the dark star of tonight's Treasure Chest, Onyx and his partner Sardonyx!"<p>

Kieran took a deep breath before he stepped out onto the stage, hearing the babble of the performers around the backdrop, the others wearing a variety of clothing while he himself had on a baggy black hoodie and a pair of dark blue jeans hanging low on his hips. He meandered throughout the scene, counting beats in his head as he allowed himself to become a part of the scenery while taking careful notes of details to the entrance of the "museum". At the count of twenty-five, he made his way over to the bench in the middle of the stage, settling himself down on it just in time for a cell phone to ring, which he pulled out of his left hoodie pocket. "Hello, this is Onyx speaking," he stated without a preamble, the birds and laughing children doing enough to "hide" his words from his fellow performers but not the audience.

There was a momentary pause before the other person spoke. "_Is this line secure?_"

The corner of his mouth twitched upwards. "Of course. I use nothing less, Sardonyx."

"_Your time's running out, Onyx_," the other person responded, understanding where his lines were to fall. "When will you be able to obtain the Rod?"

"I just need a little more time," he answered back. "The security's exceptionally hard to crack, and I usually have a month or two in advance for this kind of job."

"_You have until tonight, Onyx_," the reply was, the lights dimming as a box fell around the blond-ravenet boy. "_If I don't have the Rod, you'd better learn how to run and run fast._"

"Yes, Master Sardonyx," he answered, silence taking the scene for a prolonged moment before the music started, bouncing and disguising the sound of zippers being pulled as he got himself properly prepared for this. Kicking the loose fabric from around him, he lifted his boot up, resting it lightly on the wooden surface of the black wood obscuring him from view before he pushed it open, his song beginning.

A quick snap of his ankle sent the greased wood careening to the floor for him to saunter over, the heels of his black leather boots clicking loudly against the wooden stage as he began singing. "_So hot/ Out the box/ Can we pick up the pace?_" He began moving, faking a trot through the halls, slowing as he peeked around a corner. "_Turn it up,/ Heat it up/ I need to be entertained._" He smirked, seeing his fellow dancer and pouncing on him, winding around him seductively and drinking in the slight fear in those beautiful sapphire eyes. "_Push the limit/ Are you with it?/ Baby, don't be afraid/ I'ma hurt 'ya real good, baby._"

He let his fingers trail down around the other's body before pushing him back onto a metal folding chair, pinning the boy down with his body, pressing his vinyl-clad chest against that of his partner's. "_Let's go/ It's my show/ Baby, do what I say_." He licked his tongue along the boy's lips, surprising himself with his own audacity. "_Don't trip off the glitz/ That I'm gonna display._" He pulled back, smirking confidently as he looked into the beautiful eyes of that panting mess of a male. "_I told ya/ I'ma hold ya down until you're amazed_." He chuckled quickly, leaning in again so their noses were almost brushing. "_Give it to ya 'til your screaming my name_."

Chuckling, he danced back with a smirk, inwardly chuckling at the panic on the other's face as he realized that the skin-tight vinyl pants had somehow yielded a pair of metal handcuffs that had him latched to the chair, and Kieran made sure to keep that proud look on his face to show the pride and arrogance of his thief persona even as he ran his own fingers over his body as if contemplating what he was going to do to his captive. "_No escaping when I start/ Once I'm in I own your heart/ There's no way you'll ring the alarm/ So hold on until it's over!_"

He strutted around his companion's chair, trailing a finger across that smooth cheek in a tantalizing way he knew would get his audience riled up for more. "_Oh, do you know what you got into?/ Can you handle what I'm 'bout to do?/ 'Cause it's about to get rough for you._" He pulled his hand back, instead twirling himself around to plant himself in the other boy's lap along with his final line for the moment. "_I'm here for your entertainment."_

Despite having an _extremely _attractive boy in his lap, Aster improvised quickly, falling back on the practice Madame Kiyohime had given him earlier to smile sweetly at his captor. "**Oh, I bet you thought that I was soft and sweet/ 'Ya fallen angel swept ya off ya feet.**" He smirked darkly, pushing his lips closer to the raven-haired boy before pulling them away, a shift of his leg causing the thief to fall to the floor as Aster twisted his wrists and freed himself from the handcuffs. "**Well I'm about to turn up the heat/ I'm here for your entertainment.**"

As the power passed from the boy in the tight-fitting black vinyl vest, the silveret licked his lips before continuing the song. "**It's all right/ You'll be fine/ Baby, I'm in control.**" He strode forward, a single boot flying out to slam against one strong shoulder and pin it to the ground with a loud thud and a soft moan from the theif who closed his handsome emerald eyes. "**Take the pain/ Take the pleasure/ I'm the master of both.**" He leaned down, making sure their lips were mere inches apart as if to torment the other. "**Close your eyes/ Not your mind/ Let me into your soul**." He straightened quickly, lifting his weight off his forward foot so that the other could scurry out from underneath it and trot towards the main gallery. "**I'ma work ya 'til your totally blown**."

His character had to be calm, accepting of this new development, so he leaned back on his heels, making his words come out in more of a commenting tone as the audience watched Onyx dart and weave through the other parts of security. "**No escaping when I start/ Once I'm in I own your heart**." He then nodded to himself, starting off at a slower saunter. "**There's no way 'ta ring the alarm/ So hold on until it's over**!"

Aster timed it perfectly, pouncing on the other boy and pinning him to the wall just in time for the next few lines, his prey too dazed to put up any real fight. "**Oh, do you know what you got into?/ Can you handle what I'm 'bout to do?**" He leaned down, pressing his lips to the other boy's collar and letting go of one wrist to instead trail his hand over the smooth surface of the vinyl. "**'Cause it's about to get rough for you/ I'm here for your entertainment**."

Kieran had had enough of being dominated, or at least his character had. He brought his free hand down, brazenly squeezing the other boy's crotch as he took back the spotlight. "_Oh, I bet you thought that I was soft and sweet/ 'Ya fallen angel swept ya off your feet_." He smirked as the other boy moaned, his grip relaxing and his head falling back. "_Well I'm about to turn up the heat/ I'm here for your entertainment_." Needing to get into position now, he shoved the handsome sapphire-eyed male to the floor and darted to the main exhibit, knowing that he would be followed.

Indeed, Aster's smirk was wide as he got back up, humming as he strode down the halls. "**Oh oh…mmmm/ Entertainment…**" He watched as the theif triumphantly plucked the item from its case before he wheeled, being surrounded by guards that lined every inch of the perimeter. "**Oh oh…..Oh entertainment…**" Aster strode forward then, the confident captain that had ensnared his foe. "**I'm here for your entertainment…**"

The game wasn't over though, not yet. Kieran's hands quickly grasped at his vest, pulling it off and tossing it into the air. "_Oooohhh….._" He smirked, running a hand down his chest pointedly. "_Do you like what you see?_" His hand got to his crotch, and he pressed down then, smirking at the lust-filled sapphire eyes of his competeitor. "_Wooooaaaahhhh…/ Let me entertain ya 'till you screeaaam!_"

Aster snapped, striding forward quickly and pushing the other boy down to the display case. "**Oh, do you know what you got into?/ Can you handle what I'm 'bout to do?**" He harshly handcuffed his fellow dancer, his cock twitching in his pants at the moan he received before he kicked the stance wider to be more akin to what it would be like if he was going to fuck the boy. "**'Cause it's about to get rough for you/ I'm here for your entertainment**."

Kieran moaned, his head dropping down to rest against the glass at the feeling of the hands moving roughly along his body. "_Oh, I bet you thought that I was soft and sweet (bet ya thought)/ 'Ya fallen angel swept ya off your feet._" He didn't protest as his head was jerked up, his companion waving the other men ahead so that it was the two of them alone again. "_Well I'm about to turn up the heat (turn up the heat)/ I'm here for your entertainment_."

As soon as the last man was gone, Aster nipped harshly on his captive's ear. "So did you get my Rod yet, Onyx?" he asked huskily, soothing the bite with his tongue.

Kieran squirmed softly in his bonds. "Not yet, Sardonyx," he moaned, turning his head to huff his breath enticingly over the other's lips, "but I have a feeling I'm about to." Their lips connected just as the curtain fell over them, at which point the blond pulled away. "Shall we continue this back in my room?" he murmured, barely waiting for the answering nod to grab the other boy by his hand and dragging him off. _Ha, take that Mokey-mokey, I _can _get it up even after I lost that duel to you…_

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><p>Die: Did you enjoy the lime-ish song?<p>

Zane: No.

Die: *ignores him* I know I did!

Aster: *pokes head out of room, panting with cheeks flushed and eyes sparking* If you did, please leave a nice review about it and motivate Die to finish the next chapter faster. I wanna get laid, dammit!

Zane: ... Don't do it.

Die: *hits him* Jealous.

Zane: ... If you review, I'll let you take Aster out for a spin.

Aster: Meep! *ducks behind the door*

Die: *runs off to go review so that she can get Aster, then realizes she can't do it and starts crying*


	19. E24: Revival! Manjoume Thunder

Gold and Silver

Here's your holiday present: a double-update. Now go review this story or something, I have no real motivation to deal with you right now between my legit work and the lack of encouragement! I might get another update up soon, but only if I can find something to get me out of this slump!

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><p>I didn't transcribe anything since there was no episode interaction, so go me.<p>

This is the translation of the Japanese titles for Episode 24. The English-dub instead uses "The New Chazz".

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. If I did, there would be graphic yaoi sex.

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><p>Chapter 24: Revival! Manjoume [Chazz] Thunder<p>

Kieran allowed himself to be pushed down onto the bed, gazing up at his partner lustfully. "You're beautiful, Onyx," the silveret murmured, reaching up to stroke his left cheek. "So, so beautiful."

"You're beautiful too," the blond returned, reaching up to trace the line of a cheekbone where it wasn't hidden behind the slender black mask.

"Don't," his partner whispered, shying away from his hand. "I don't want you to see my face."

"All right," he replied gently, a little saddened but willing to abide by that.

"I won't take your mask off either," the silveret mumbled, leaning down to kiss the Magician duelist.

_My- Oh damn you Valkyria! _Tossing the matter aside for the moment, he focused on kissing the boy in front of him, moaning softly as he dug his fingers into long mercury strands of hair. _Sardonyx… really is beautiful… _he mused to himself, pressing kisses down the other's throat when they parted for air. "Your eyes really are beautiful," he commented, staring into the orbs during a pause in leaving the other boy's neck and jaw lined in kisses. "They gleam like the finest sapphires."

"You're one to talk," Sardonyx huffed, blushing. "Those eyes are better emeralds than the gemstone. You _look _like you belong here in the Treasure Chest."

Kieran blushed, reaching up to stroke the other's reddened cheek. "You don't have to compliment me to get me to sleep with you, you know," he murmured. "I'm willing to do it without any coercing on your part."

Sardonyx recoiled, looking scandalized. "I said it because I meant it, not because I wanted to sleep with you!" he half-yelled. "If I was that desperate for someone, I could get as much sex as I wanted without having to go to this kind of such a seedy place, even if my friend _did _bring me here in the first place!"

The blond-dyed-ravenet sighed, realizing his words had hurt the other boy and reaching out to catch the boy's sleeve. "I'm sorry," he muttered, looking at the mirror on the other side of the room rather than face the pain in those pretty sapphire eyes. "Most people want me because I'm pretty, and it's only recently that someone's been with me who loves me for all of me."

"You shouldn't assume." The words were harsh even if the tone was neutral.

"I shouldn't have," he agreed. "Just… I…" He sighed, not really sure how to fix this but unwilling to leave things like this. "I really am sorry. I never meant it like that. I just wanted to make sure you knew I didn't care about what you said if you didn't mean it."

The other boy sighed, running his hair through his mercury locks. "You certainly have an odd way of doing it," he muttered.

"You can leave if you want," Kieran allowed, loosing his grip on the other. "I won't be insulted if you do."

Aster blinked in surprise at the other boy's offer. "I… never said I wanted to leave," he murmured, turning to look at Emerald with his averted gaze and lowered head before it shot up, those beautiful green eyes sparking with confusion and renewed hope.

"You aren't?" he asked, shock coloring his tone.

"No," the pro-duelist answered softly, reaching out to cup the other's cheek with all the tenderness as if he were a porcelain doll that would break with a single touch. "It wasn't as if you meant to hurt me, and besides, I'm too fond of you to just let it end here over a misunderstanding."

Emerald reached up, pressed the hand against his cheek more firmly against his skin as he turned and nuzzled said hand. "I really am sorry, you know," he whispered. "Can we please start this again?"

"No," Aster refused fiercely, "but we can move on." He darted forward, capturing the other boy's lips in a kiss, unsurprised when Emerald gasped into it. He pushed the ravenet down on the bed, clambering on top to straddle him without breaking the kiss.

Kieran groaned, hands flying to the silveret's hips to provide unneeded support as he reached up to pull off the disguise to lovingly stroke along the slender torso in front of him. "Beautiful," he panted when they parted, looking into the shimmering pools of sky before him.

"I was just about to say the same thing," Sardonyx replied cockily, lightly trailing his fingers over the Salem's bare chest. "Beautiful."

Almost of their own accord, his cheeks filled with strong heat. "I- I haven't been taken before," he mumbled shyly, his gaze once again straying from that of the other's, "but I… I just…" He sighed here, taking a moment to gather his thoughts, and the silveret patiently waited for him to finish articulating his wish. "Don't turn my back to you when you take me," he requested, blushing.

Aster smiled warmly at the other male, gently reconnecting their eyes with three fingers. "Not for a moment," he assured, quickly kissing his lips before squirming down to peel off Emerald's black vinyl pants to reveal… "You don't wear anything under that?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at the sight of the blond curls surrounding the erection he had located.

"I can't," Emerald replied, blushing. "The material's too tight for anything but panties or a thong, and the panties just wedge up my ass and the thong's a little too… racy for my tastes."

"And this is better?" he chuckled, amused.

The blond flushed deeper. "Shut up!" he muttered, emerald eyes narrowing. "It's not like you're complaining."

Aster shrugged. "True." He wriggled his hips, feeling a little self-conscious. "Do you have any lubricant? I need to prepare you."

Kieran licked his lips, nervous but firm in his resolve to go through with this. "Top drawer," he replied, "but I already prepped myself… I always do before I perform. Makes me feel a little better to get myself used to the medium before I start trying to get everyone else riled up."

"Seems logical," Sardonyx replied, leaning over to retrieve the tube and squeezing some out onto his fingers. "I'd just like to do it to be sure. I don't want you to hurt."

The Magician duelist's heart swelled with that declaration. "If you want," he murmured, spreading his legs with a dusting of roses across his skin. "I can wait until you're done with that."

Aster swallowed hard. _This is it, this is where you're going to be doing it with someone else other than that mild experimenting Jesse did with you to help you figure out how to do this. Breathe, Phoenix, breathe and don't fuck this up… _he thought to himself as he brought his fingers down, tracing the other's entrance in a polite warning before he worked in a single digit, surprised at how easily Onyx's body gave to him before he remembered that the blond had said he'd already stretched himself prior to their performance. Swallowing hard to force back the saliva that thought elicited, he added a second finger, scissoring as he carefully scanned Onyx's face for any signs of pain other than the wrinkling of the nose at the strangeness of the feeling.

"I already prepared myself, you know," the boy mumbled, looking up at him with his big emerald eyes. "You don't have to go so slowly."

"If you say so," he answered, adding a third finger and spreading them all while starting a slight thrusting motion. "I'd just rather be safe than sorry."

The other boy hummed an acknowledgement, a smile blooming on his face as he shifted his hips to drive the questing phalanges into his prostate. "Just to give you something to aim for," Emerald informed him with a moan.

Aster felt himself grow harder, if that were possible, with that one statement. He didn't want to wait any longer. He pulled his fingers out and grabbed the tube again only for fingers to wrap around his wrist. "Allow me," the other whispered, taking the lubricant from him and putting it on his palm before bringing his hand to rub and caress those silver curls and the cock surrounded there. He moaned, his head falling back as his hips involuntarily pressed forward into that wonderful, warm grip.

"Onyx!" he cried, "That feels so _good_!"

The blond's lips twitched. "Does it?" he asked in a conversational tone, tightening his fingers for a moment before loosening again. "Imagine how much better it'll feel for both of us once you're inside me." Aster moaned, almost cumming at the notion of having sex with this wonderful creature in front of him.

Kieran panted as Sardonyx pressed into him, moaning loudly as he felt that thick penis penetrate him, his emerald eyes falling shut as tears pricked at the corners of his vision. Soft lips brushed against the sides of his face, but he didn't open his eyes, not yet. The two of them stayed there, frozen in time as the pain ebbed and they drunk in the closeness brought by this sharing of their bodies. Finally the Salem cracked open his eyes to see the other boy looking at him concernedly, sapphire eyes thoughtful. "Are you ready?" he murmured, his thumb caressing circles on the boy's face.

The Magician duelist blushed, leaning into the touch. "You can move," he whispered, the two maintaining eye contact as the silveret began moving, his bottom lip pulled up to press onto his teeth with the needed concentration to keep control of himself as he thrust into the other boy. Or at least, they did until Sardonyx hit one bundle of nerves inside him so that he threw his head back, moaning loudly and wantonly. "Sardonyx!" he cried, "Sardonyx, hit that again!"

"Onyx!" the silveret cried, angling his hips in the same way even as his partner writhed back against him. "Onyx, so _good_!" He reached down, his hand playing with the blond's erection fondly as he felt a tightness in his stomach grow towards explosion.

"Sardonyx!" Kieran cried, throwing his head back as he came between them, panting harshly.

"Emerald!" Aster yelled, the tightness of his partner forcing out his own climax as he arched against the dancer before collapsing bonelessly on top of Onyx, snuggling up to the larger male. Fingers gently played with his silver hair in a soothing manner, and before he knew it, they were both asleep, soaking in the warmth of each other's skin.

* * *

><p>Kieran awoke first, blinking groggily as he attempted to comprehend the warmth in his arms. <em>Wha-? <em>he thought, looking down at the boy in his arms before the memories came back to him in a rush of heat and passion. _I can't believe I slept with him last night!_

"Mmm," the silveret mumbled, snuggling close to his teddy bear, "Emerald."

"Sardonyx," the blond hissed, nudging his partner, "Sardonyx, wake up."

"What's wrong, Onyx?" the sapphire-eyed male asked, waking up and turning those beautiful orbs towards him concernedly.

"You'll need to leave," he whispered, petting the mercury hair in front of him forlornly. "You have places to be, and I… I have to go back to my home."

Aster grew sad too as he got up, pulling his clothes back on. He paused in the doorway, turning his head to make sure that the dancer could hear him. "Just so you know, I don't regret last night, only that you do." He shut the door then, walked away back to his life of overly-bright spotlights and unnaturally-wide smiles.

Kieran couldn't help but cry there in the room, full of pity and sorrow and guilt that he had given his virginity to someone that wasn't Zane and didn't even feel any regret doing it either.

* * *

><p>Aster: ... Yay, I got laid!<p>

Zane: *hits him* You aren't manly enough to get laid.

Die: *hits Zane* You aren't either, so shut up! *cuddles Aster*

Zane: ... Reviews will be greeted with Aster. Good night.


	20. E25&26: A War Worth Winning

Gold and Silver

First off, I'd like to thank Applejax XD for reviewing (finally!) THIS CHAPTER IS FOR YOU! Anyway, this is quite possibly the longest chapter I've done for this series, and the reason I didn't have it out so much earlier was because my computer had a horrible virus that left me trying to fix it for two days straight just so that I could take it to a professional to get it properly repaired. Please remember that if I don't get reviews, it'll make me want to discontinue this story!

Remember to read the companion story, **Black and Red**, and the two oneshots that go with this series!

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><p>I did all the transcribing myself, so yay me!<p>

This is the title of the English-dub for Episodes 25 and 26. Its Japanese version translates to "VS Manjoume [Chazz] Thunder Part One, Threat of Armed Dragon" and "VS Manjoume Thunder Part Two – Armed Dragon LV7", but my own personal title for these chapters is "A War Worth Winning"

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. If I did, Aster would have shown up in season one cuz he's cute! That, and Zane wouldn't turn evil.

* * *

><p>Chapter 2526: The School Duel, Parts One and Two, or "A War Worth Winning"

Zane stood at the harbor, his arms crossed as he glared absently past the strands of his teal hair that were thrown about by the sea breeze. From behind him, Mrs. Dorothy called, "Hey Zane, you do realize he shouldn't be here for another few hours, right?"

He nodded. "I'll wait anyway though."

She shrugged. "Suit yourself."

He knew he should care more about how his boyfriend was faring, but to be entirely honest, he felt really guilty about not sparing a thought for the affectionate blond save for when he was alone in his room. That was part of the reason he had come down to the docks to wait for his love. Still, when he caught the gleam against the horizon, he couldn't prevent a soft smile from tugging at the edges of his lips. He waited patiently for the boat to dock, the boy at the bow with a similar smile even as he leaned heavily on the two crutches underneath his arms. "Kieran," he murmured, stepping forward to help his boyfriend down and pulling him close as he greedily inhaled the scent of his lover, "I missed you."

"Did you now?" the Salem asked softly, his arms falling around the Truesdale's neck.

Zane nodded. "I had to sleep in your room at the Abandoned Dorm every night just so that I could cuddle up to your pillow and feel you."

"I love you too," Kieran chuckled, kissing his boyfriend's nose. "And just so you know, I missed you too. I would've called you except that I was so exhausted after work that I just crashed."

"It's okay," the Cyber duelist replied, lifting the other boy into his arms and delighting when slender legs wrapped firmly around his waist. "You're here now and that's all that matters." Satisfied that his lover wasn't going to be falling out of his embrace anytime soon, he shifted the crutches into his free hand from where they'd been leaning against his hip and began carrying the boy across campus to the Obelisk dorm to drop off the awkward things since he could very well support his boyfriend himself, thank you very much.

* * *

><p>"Heya Sy."<p>

"Kieran!" the little bluenet cried, wheeling around to see his older brother carrying the blond in his arms bridal style. "You're back!"

"I wouldn't miss the School Duel, Sy," he laughed, his golden eyepiece back in place in front of his emerald eye. "Besides, I kinda promised your brother here I'd be back before the week was out."

The corners of Zane's lips twitched as if in a vague smile. "Do you mind if we sit here?" he asked, nodding his head towards the two empty seats.

"No, not at all," Alexis said, gesturing to the two of them. Zane nodded his thanks, settling his boyfriend down in the seat behind Syrus before sitting behind his fellow Obelisk.

"So Sy, how's school going?" Kieran asked, propping his feet up against the bottom of the back of the seat in front of him.

"I'm doing okay," he murmured, watching as Masked Dragon took the field in front of Chazz only to be destroyed by E-Hero Burstinitrix. Of course, using the card in his own deck, he could see the monster was obviously bait, especially when Chazz brought out the orange dragon.

"Uh, Level?" Syrus asked confusedly as Kieran, unfamiliar with the card, tapped a button on the side of his earpiece to pull up the card's details on the side of the screen.

"Three's the lowest. If Chazz plays this right, it's gonna get a lot bigger."

"It goes up to level ten in total," Kieran added, "but since that final one's so rare, it's likely he only has up to level seven."

The other Ra, Bastion Misawa the Magician duelist believed his name was, decided to add his own opinion into the equation. "Indeed, I just wonder where Chazz got such a powerful card."

Zane shrugged. "Likely from North Academy," he murmured. "I heard that they have an official school-deck, but I don't know what's in it since my opponent used his personal deck."

"This isn't good," Syrus gasped.

Kieran sighed as he watched the dragon change into the larger, red version that was Armed Dragon LV 5. "Looks like I'm not the only one with a powerful Dragon deck… I wonder which one's better, mine or this one."

"Yours," Zane answered without missing a beat.

"Be careful, Jaden, by leveling up, Armed Dragon's power has substantially increased and he was plenty powerful before!" Bastion cried.

"Aw man," Syrus mumbled.

"Please, my Thousand Dragon could take him down, no problem," Kieran scoffed, shrugging his shoulders as Jaden equipped Hero Ring to his monster. "What he should be worried about would be if that deck had a F.G.D. in it, now _that _would be concerning."

"Hush," Zane scolded lightly, slapping his shoulder. "Be nice."

"I was," the blond shot back as the monster destroyed the E-Hero with his special ability before shooting Jaden across the field with his attack before the brunet jolted back up with a quip on his tongue and Bubbleman to throw right down.

"E-Hero Tempest," Kieran guessed, smirking when he was proven right and the Warrior destroyed the Dragon in epic fashion. "Jeez, give me a little more of a guessing challenge, Jaden."

"All right!" Syrus crowed, "You've got him now, Jay!" The first-years then gasped in dismay when Chazz brought his monster right back with the trap card Call of the Haunted. "Not that one!"

"Impressive," Kieran yawned, his elbow landing on the armrest beside him so that he could pillow his chin on his palm, "but obviously Chazz isn't as comfortable using this deck as you guys seem to think. Either that or it's a mediocre deck with above-average cards."

"What makes you say that?" Alexis asked, turning to look at the other blond.

"Yeah, Chazz has been playing his deck most expertly," Bastion added, brow furrowing as he looked at his fellow Ra.

"True, his dragon _is _impressive and he's doing well at keeping it on the field as an active threat," the Magician duelist remarked, "but the thing is, he's been doing a little _too _well at it if you catch my drift."

Syrus sucked in a breath. "You're saying you don't think he has any other really-good monsters in there?"

"Either that or he's unfamiliar with the other cards in it," Zane corrected lightly. "After all, while my Cyber Dragons are good and I do try to keep them on the field, I have other cards in my deck that are just as useful when played the right way."

"Mmm, don't remind me," the blond purred from beside him, waiting until the attention wasn't on them before leaning over to huff his breath over his boyfriend's ear before giving it a quick nip and retreating with an innocent look. "You can play _anything _to your advantage."

"Talk about close," Syrus gasped from in front of him, startling the two elder boys out of their reverie.

"I know, he barely saved his monsters!" Chumley Huffington added from the other side of Alexis.

"What happened?" Kieran asked, looking down at the two.

"Chazz tried to get rid of Tempest but Jay used Defusion at the last minute," Alexis enlightened him in a condescending tone as Chazz brought out the final version of his great red dragon.

"Jeez, don't have to be so harsh," the blond Ra muttered under his breath, pouting slightly. "I was just asking a question. No need to get your tail in a knot."

She turned around to glare at him with smoldering brown eyes until Bastion stepped in to head off the argument before it began. "Would you knock it off the both of you? Some of us here are trying to watch the duel."

"What's _your _problem?" the Magician duelist asked the genius, raising a single eyebrow in a movement he would have to unwillingly admit he had practiced for years in front of a mirror before perfecting should anyone ask him. Bastion jerked his head towards the other side of the stadium where, among all the North Academy uniforms, there was a splash of bright copper red brushing against black leather. "Ah," Kieran breathed, "friend of yours?"

"Not exactly," the Brit replied, but before he could elaborate, Alexis interrupted them and brought attention back to the duel.

"Oh no, that'll leave Jaden wide open!" she cried.

"That is one impressive special power," Zane added, his soft blue eyes focused intently on the field, though they did flicker over to his boyfriend as soon as the three exploding monsters were done with and he had gasped. "Makes me wonder why you don't have a deck with these beasts, Ren."

"Jaden no!" Syrus cried, looking devastated and as if he'd lost all hope in his new-found friend's predicament.

Kieran smirked. "Why should I?" he asked, getting insane looks from the group around him. "As much as you guys would hate to hear it, we all know my best monsters lie in Spellcaster-type monsters, not Dragon-types. Nasty pieces of work, they're impressive if used in the right way, but it takes a certain kind of duelist to play them."

"As does any deck," Alexis retorted, smirking.

"Of course," the blond Ra allowed, nodding. "I didn't mean to imply that _only _Dragon-types are unique, but the context of my sentence only allowed for the single type to be inferred. In fact, I hold true to the saying a person's deck will tell someone more about the individual than he or she ever will."

The girl narrowed her eyes at him, still obviously upset with the Salem, but her attention was diverted again to the duel. "This duel's over! It's time for you to go bye-bye! Level Seven Armed Dragon, attack Jaden directly with Dragon Talon Terror!" Chazz called loudly, strong emotion in his roiling silver eyes. Many would've assumed it hate, but Kieran knew differently, having been in a similar position himself. No, it was love, love that had turned rancid and bitter as it festered into a misguided hatred that was about to explode over everything once held dear.

* * *

><p>"<em>That's it!" Kieran yelled, standing up in a harsh movement that had the legs of his chair protesting with a loud screech as they scraped against the linoleum. "I've had it with you, Zane!"<em>

_The teal-haired boy looked up from across the table, blinking his gentle blue eyes as he took in the sharp lines of his friend's profile. "Is something wrong, Ren?" he asked good-naturedly, well-aware he didn't belong in the Ra cafeteria with the blue Obelisk collar of his white elite jacket but perfectly content to pretend he did if it meant the spitfire blond was still his._

_The Ra bared his teeth, acting like he was a threatened animal more than he was a teenage boy. "You're such an arrogant asshole!" he spat, his golden hair bristling up in a vague similarity to a bottlebrush. "Well, I've had it! I'm not going to kiss the ground you walk on anymore, Zane!"_

"_Ren," the Cyber duelist murmured, getting to his feet and spreading his hands to try to reconcile the Salem to himself. "Ren, calm down, you're getting out of control. Just sit back down and we can talk this out." He reached forward, intending to grab the other boy's arm, but the blond yanked it back in a flurry of yellow fabric._

"_Don't touch me!" Kieran snarled, emerald eyes gleaming fiercely. "I don't want you to touch me ever again!"_

"_Ren, please," the Truesdale attempted, "tell me what's wrong so that I can try to fix it." Zane was worried, the blond had never acted like this before and it worried him._

"_Duel me you bastard!" was the heart-felt reply, forest-green eyes burning._

_So that was what this was about. "All right," he replied, taking a Duel Disk from Atticus when it was offered as Kieran slipped on one offered by some Ra student, "but promise me you'll consider this over when we're done."_

"_Fine!" the blond snarled, drawing. "I'll beat you anyway, so it doesn't matter!" He glanced down at his hand, taking a hurried inventory of the cards: Shining Angel, Illusionist Faceless Mage, The Illusory Gentleman, Magician's Circle, and Ready for Intercepting. "I'll go first!" he declared, taking a card from the deck, the firm stance of his body not betraying the look of sorrow on the face of the transparent girl he'd just pulled, Magician's Valkyria. "I'll summon Shining Angel to the field in defense mode and set two cards facedown."_

_Zane sighed. "I activate Cyber Dragon's special ability. Since you have a monster on the field and I have none, I can special summon him from my hand, and I'll also summon out Proto-Cyber Dragon in attack mode as well. Now, Proto-Cyber, attack his Shining Angel!"_

"_Thanks for that, Zay-zay!" the blond mocked. "By destroying Shining Angel, his effect activates, allowing me to special summon one Light-Attribute monster with to 1500 attack points or less the field from my deck, and I choose another Shining Angel!"_

_If the bluenet was surprised, he didn't show it. "Cyber Dragon, attack!" he commanded, his face impassive as the angel burst into thousands of golden pieces. "Your move, Ren."_

_The blond drew, adding Dark Elf to his hand. "I summon out Magician's Valkyria in attack mode!" he yelled, smiling as the girl took the field with her characteristic toss of her staff, a flourish she would always do when he dueled. "Now, Valkyria, attack his Proto-Cyber Dragon, and that's not all! I trigger my trap Magician's Circle since a Spellcaster-Type monster has declared an attack! Now we can both choose one Spellcaster-type monster with 2000 or less attack points from our Decks and bring them out to the field in faceup attack position, not that it matters since we both know you don't have anything like that in your deck!" A fond look entered emerald eyes as a clone of the girl appeared on his field, the two nodding and crossing their staffs as Zane winced as his Life Points dropped 500 points to 3500. "And since we both know I'm not stupid enough to attack your Cyber Dragon yet, I conclude my turn."_

_The bluenet's soft blue eyes searched for the little child who would follow him around, the laughing boy who had cheekily declared that he would one day beat Zane and his Cyber Dragons with the Cyberdark Dragon he had yet to win, the loyal friend who had stood beside him even after he had declared girls icky and that he would rather marry Kieran than some smelly girl. He didn't find him in those hardened emerald eyes. "I activate Future Fusion, which allows me to discard from my deck the monsters that make up one fusion monster and then special summon it to my field on my second standby phase, and then I'll place one card facedown."_

_Kieran nodded to himself, pleased. His Valkyrias couldn't be defeated in battle since their effects prevented other Spellcaster-type monsters from being targeted by a monster and thus protected each other. He glanced down at the card he drew, Breaker the Magical Warrior, and then nodded. "I summon out Breaker the Magical Warrior!" he declared, the armored magician appearing on the field. "When Breaker is summoned, he gains one spell counter on him, giving him an additional 300 attack points, but that's not the point since he can't hope to challenge your Cyber Dragon. Instead, I'm going to remove the counter to destroy one spell or trap card on the field, and I choose your Future Fusion!"_

_"I'll place one card facedown. Your turn, Ren."_

_Emerald eyes narrowed. "You've lost the right to call me that right now, Zane Truesdale," the Salem hissed as he drew Book of Secret Arts from his deck. "I summon out Dark Elf in attack mode!" he declared as the beautiful female took the field. "Now I'll equip her with the card Book of Secret Arts, which lends her another 300 attack and defense, just enough to take down your Cyber Dragon. Sure, I'll have to pay 1000 Life Points to declare an attack, but it's worth it when I can deliver so much more damage to you instead!" The monster with the book in its hands looked up to wave her hand, a blast of shadows latching onto the mechanical creature and destroying it completely as Kieran's Life Points fell to 3000 and Zane's to 3300. "Now, Valkyria, attack!"_

* * *

><p>A sharp elbow brought the young blond out of his reverie. Behind him, standing awkwardly with her arms crossed over her chest, was his precious friend Magician's Valkyria. <strong>Look<strong>, she wrote to him, gesturing with a jerk of her chin, **something is about to happen: Something big.**

Kieran's brow furrowed, but he did as the Duel Spirit said, glad to see she was back at his side once more.

"So, Chazz, who's your little friend?" Jaden asked, cocking his head cutely to one side even as Winged Kuriboh sat on his shoulder, the Fiend-type monster obviously having been infused with a spirit just as much as Valkyria was when she came onto the field with her uncharacteristic twirls and shows of affection.

The black-clad male only seemed to panic, scrambling around his end of the stage trying to catch the little yellow translucent form beside him. "It's nothing! Just a figment of your imagination! Nothing to see here! No Duel Spirits at all! Leave me alone!" Finally getting close enough, he clapped his hands together, making the Ojama Yellow disappear in a little puff of smoke that could easily be mistaken for dust.

The blonde girl giggled to herself. **I do not think he likes his Spirit Partner all too much. A shame too, the Ojamas are quite a loyal bunch.**

The corner of the Salem's lips quirked upward. "Hey, with an ego like that, who would like having a Duel Spirit other than a 'powerful' card?" he replied softly.

**True**, the magician huffed, **but such cockiness would not prompt such a violent termination of little Winged Kuriboh, would it?**

The Magician duelist chuckled warmly. "It's good to have you back, Valkyria. I missed you."

**And I you, my friend.** Having thus made up, more or less anyway, with her wielder, the monster disappeared into the deck pouch on Kieran's hip, her presence doing wonders for the boy's mental state. Somehow, it made him feel just a tad bit better knowing that she had forgiven him for cheating on Zane even if he didn't see it as such.

"Wait," Syrus murmured, his hand on his chin, "but why didn't Chazz use his Armed Dragon's special ability?"

"Because Kuriboh's would cancel it out," Bastion answered, turning his gaze from the giggling form of the redhead boy in the front row. _Maybe_, Kieran mused to himself, _he can see Duel Spirits too..._ "The turn in which he's destroyed, Jaden takes no damage."

"Exactly," Zane said, nodding. "If Jaden's not going to take any damage anyway, unless there's a specific card Chazz wanted in his Graveyard, it would be pointless to use the dragon's ability just to destroy Kuriboh when an attack would do just fine."

"Don't worry, kid," Kieran murmured, reaching down to ruffle the boy's sky blue hair affectionately as he watch Jaden pull another miracle out of thin air as he destroyed the great dragon on the field. "It's something that takes knowing a person and their deck to spot. Zane and I just knew that because I've studied decks and strategies for most of my life and Bastion because he dueled Chazz before he went to North Academy."

"So licious!" Chumley praised, "Totally what I'da done! You know, if I had those cards. And if Jaden were walking me through it step by step."

The blond raised a single eyebrow but didn't comment over it. Bastion, though, had no such restrictions, likely because he was still touchy over his friend having sided with the North Academy students for one reason or another. "That's all? Maybe he should hold your hand as well."

"Bastion, be nice," the Salem chided, wishing the Brit was sitting just a little closer to him so that he could smack the guy's head too.

"Way to play!" Syrus called, grinning. "Now follow through and take it to Chazz's Life Points, Jay!"

"You got it, Sy!" the brunet yelled back, though he kept his back to his friends.

**He's hiding something from his friends**, Valkyria wrote, tapping her pen against the parchment, **strong feelings perhaps?**

Kieran bit his lip. A duel between two duelists, one or both of whom didn't even want the fight in the first place? There were so many similarities, it was uncanny...

* * *

><p><em>"Not so fast!" Zane called, offering a quiet mental apology to the Duel Monster that was Kieran's favorite. "I activate the trap card <span>Call of the Haunted<span>! This allows me to select one monster in my Graveyard and bring it back to the field in attack mode, and I choose my Cyber Dragon!"_

_"No, Valkyria!" the blond yelled, watching as his Duel Spirit's strike with the lance fell on the head of the machine only for it to raise its head and blast her in the chest, shattering her to pieces and dropping his Life Points to 1800. "I'll switch my remaining Valkyria to defense mode and end my turn."_

_Zane drew, offering another apology for what he was about to do to the poor blonde girl. "I summon Proto-Cyber Dragon in attack mode, and now I use Polymerization to fuse the two monsters together to create the great Cyber Twin Dragon! Now, Cyber Twin, attack Magician's Valkyria and Breaker the Magical Warrior!" The beast roared, one head shooting each monster as per its ability and further plummeting the Salem's Life Points to a measly 200._

_"My turn," Kieran muttered, panting harshly from the attack as he shook his hair out of his eyes with a toss of his head. He drew, glancing at the monster before a smirk tugged at his lips at what he had gotten. "I summon out Invitation to a Dark Sleep in attack mode!" he yelled, "and thus its effect activates. You see, when this card in summoned, I can choose one of your monsters, and so long as this card is faceup on the field, that monster can't attack. Since you only have one monster out, I don't have a lot to choose from, but that's okay because your Cyber Twin Dragon is useless now!"_

_"He's never useless," Zane corrected absently, drawing. "Nothing is ever useless, Ren. Not even you." _Can't you understand I'm not angry at you? Please come back to me, Ren, come back._"I summon out __Proto-Cyber Dragon__ in defense mode and end my turn."_

_Kieran glanced over the field, inwardly cursing that his Dark Elf was unable to be of much use anymore since he didn't have the points to pay the cost of attacking, but it was time he moved on. He would hold onto this card for now, but in the meantime, he could at least get her off the field. "I tribute my Dark Elf in order to summon Illusionist Faceless Mage in defense mode!" he stated, a shifty smile appearing on his face as the terrifying doll took the field in place of the elegant elf that had been there before._

_"I chain De-Fusion to your summon to split my Cyber Twin Dragon back into Cyber Dragon and Proto-Cyber Dragon once more," Zane stated impassively, glad he had a better use for the monster than what had been there before. At Kieran's snarl, he presumed the other had nothing to counter that and began his turn. "I activate the spell card Photon Generator Unit. Now by sacrificing my two Proto-Cyber Dragons, I can summon out Cyber Laster Dragon! Now, Cyber Laser, attack Illusionist Faceless Mage!" The monster roared, doing the Cyber duelist's bidding. "Now, Cyber Dragon, attack Invitation to a Dark Sleep, but before you do, I chain the card Limiter Removal, which doubles its attack to end this once and for all!"_

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><p>"<span>Grave of Enkindling<span> made that way too easy, it's practically unfair!" Syrus complained, snapping the blond out of his thoughts as he stared down at the field, at the lower-level dragon that huddled on Chazz's side and the Wildheart on Jaden's. "Isn't there any drawback to using it?"

"If I recall correctly," Bastion stated, catching the underclassmen's attention, "by rule, the resurrected monster must remain in defense mode. Of course, that's really a moot point. After all, with Level Five's special ability, by discarding a monster from his hand to the Graveyard, Chazz can destroy one of Jaden's monsters whose attack points are less or equal to the monster Chazz discarded."

"You okay?" Zane asked, turning to the blond at his side. "You've been really quiet for most of the duel. Is something wrong?"

_Something? Try a _lot _of things._ "I'm fine, Zay-zay," the Salem murmured quietly, giving a soft smile. "Just a little thoughtful."

The Obelisk's brow furrowed. "Anything I need to be worried about?" he queried softly, every inch the concerned boyfriend.

_Yes. _"No," the blond answered, giving a gentle smile. "I'll tell you all about it when this is over, okay?"

"If you say so, Ren," Zane replied, turning his head back towards the duel even if the Ra could tell his attention was focused back on his side.

"What's he planning?" Bastion gasped, brow furrowed as he strained his memory through every one of Jaden's duels that he'd seen to try to figure out what was going to happen next.

"Hero Kid," Kieran enlightened them, his foot bouncing. "They'll make nice shields until Jaden can take care of that dragon again." As he heard Chazz's announcement, he bit his lip. "Or not."

"Okay, this is bad," Syrus said, looking close to panic.

Chazz laughed, a touch of insanity to his tone. Insanity Kieran knew well... _NO! _he growled mentally, gritting his teeth. _That's the past, and this is now. Zane has forgiven me for what I did. And I need to keep myself here, before I worry Zane any further. It's not fair to him, and it certainly isn't fair to Jaden and Chazz._

"No," Zane gasped, watching the chaos unfolding and unintentionally recapping the last move for his distracted boyfriend. "With that, Chazz can destroy all of Jaden's monsters again." Below him, his brother let out a little worried whimper.

"Relax," the blond murmured, "Jaden'll get himself out of this. He's been in tight spots before and come out fine." _It probably doesn't hurt that he has a Duel Spirit to help him too._

"You know something we don't, Kieran?" Alexis demanded scathingly, turning around to look at the elder Ra.

The Salem chuckled, tapping his reader. "Always."

"Aw man," Syrus whimpered, watching as Chazz wiped out Jaden's last defenses.

"That ability will send Masked Dragon to the Graveyard and then crush any beast with less attack points," Zane muttered darkly.

"Hey, it's not that funny!" Syrus called, watching the dark-clad boy laughing hysterically at his own puns.

"Let him be, Sy," Kieran said, jaw coming up as a slightly-haunted look came into his emerald eyes. "There's no use reasoning with one who's been touched with this kind of madness."

"What madness?" the little bluenet asked, turning around to look at his older brother in all but blood.

"The madness of winning," the blond elaborated sadly. "It's where you're so determined to climb up from the bottom that you're willing to destroy everything just to keep from going back there."

Syrus shuddered, looking down at the field with sorrowful eyes. "That's horrible. What sort of a person would put that kind of pressure on someone else to drive them to such a state?"

Zane shifted uncomfortably in his seat, well aware of the implications. "It's not any one person's fault," the Salem declared firmly, catching the guilt wafting off his boyfriend in waves. "I've been down that hellhole before, I know what it's like, and while other people have a large effect on it, you yourself have to make that commitment to get there. It doesn't just happen on its own. Someone just likely gave him a good push over the edge to put him there?"

"Who gave you your push?" Bastion asked curiously.

"I did," Zane confessed, his tone decidedly neutral, though his poker face couldn't quite hide the roiling emotions running through him in that instant, "and I've never regretted anything more in my entire life."

"And who would've given Chazz his?" Syrus asked. "Surely not Bastion and Jay when he lost to them?"

"That likely played a part," the younger Ra replied, "but if there's one thing I've learned over the past few weeks, it's that whoever turned Chazz into this likely threatened his twin brother too. They would do anything for each other."

Kieran's eyes combed over the stadium, searching for the cause until a sheet of smooth parchment crossed his vision. **Try the top corner with black suits. You can't miss them.**

"Bastion," the Magician duelist murmured, tapping the boy's shoulder. When the ravenet turned to look at him, he leaned over Zane's lap to point out the two his Duel Spirit had specified. "Just a hunch you'll want to remember those two."

The genius let out a low growl from deep in his chest. "I'll keep that in mind."

"No, Chazz!" The cry ran through the entire stadium as the duel ended, stemming from the boy in the front row who was on his feet, hands in fists at his sides. The dragon was burning, the fans were gasping, Chazz's fate was sealed. Idly, the blond Ra wondered how Chazz ever could have thought he could win in the first place... but that would have meant that his own victory over Zane should not have been.

"All right!" Syrus cried joyfully, "Jaden just took out the Armed Dragon with just one attack!"

Bastion's lip was pulled between his teeth. "And the assault's not over yet, Syrus. The Flame Wingman's still has his superpower. It comes next."

"Yeah, and it's gonna really burn Chazz," Alexis huffed snarkily, grinning. "His Life Points will now take damage equal to his destroyed monster's attack points, 1600."

Kieran and Zane both averted their gaze from the disgraced duelist, neither able to stomach the picture being painted for them of what might have happened if things had turned out differently from what they had. Jaden had once again won. The nightmare was over... this time with the ending it should have been.

* * *

><p><em>"Not so fast!" Kieran yelled. "I activate my trap card <span>Ready for Intercepting<span>! This allows me to flip one faceup Spellcaster-type or Warrior-type monster into facedown defense position, which your attack then Flip Summons and allows me to activate Invitation's special ability again, this time on your Cyber Dragon!"_

_Zane shook his head. "Not much use since Limiter Removal means the monster is destroyed at the end of the turn, but you saved your monster for another day."_

_"Which is good because that's going to be how I defeat you!" Kieran declared hotly, drawing a card. "In fact, I'll do it this turn!"_

_"Is that a challenge?" the bluenet asked, shaking his head. "Fine, you're on. I don't see how you could do it with my Cyber Laser Dragon on the field and with you only having two cards in your hand and one monster on the field, but if you think you can, you're welcome to try."_

_Kieran's lip curled up in distaste. "I will! First I summon out The Illusory Gentleman in attack mode, and then I'll use the magic card Magical Dimension on Invitation to a Dark Sleep! In return for destroying one Spellcaster-type monster on my field, I can destroy one monster on your side of the field and then Special Summon one Spellcaster from my hand, and I have just the one. Come forth, Cosmo Queen!"_

_Zane gasped in awe as his great Cyber burst into pieces with the strange surroundings that spawned forth a dark mistress from its depths. "But Kieran, how did you get that card? Teacher said it had dark spirit in it!"_

_The blond smirked. "You'd be surprised when you can find if you open yourself to the possibilities. Now, my Gentleman, attack! Show no mercy!" The knight nodded, raising his blade and slashing the bluenet across the chest. Zane yelped, taking a step back to keep himself upright, until he raised his gaze to meet the burning emerald of his opponent. He could not find his friend in the person before him, did not recognize a single part of this creature before him, and that scared him a little. "And now, Cosmo Queen, attack Zane's Life Points directly! Prove to him that it's the heart of the duelist, not the intent of the cards, that determines the outcome of a duel!"_

_The Obelisk fell to his knees after the attack abated, his Life Points at zero and his legs shaking from the very effort of having to stand up. "So you've defeated me, Ren," he murmured quietly, his words sounding loud in the hushed silence that had come about from the defeat of the king. "Tell me, did you find what you were looking for all those years?"_

_The Ra blinked once, twice, his lips having welded themselves shut after the great victory. His tongue flicked out, wetting his lips, and then he spoke. "I don't know."_

* * *

><p>Die: Dun dun dun, now we know more of the truth!<p>

Zane: ... You just like playing with everyone until next episode.

Die: Yep! I'm gonna- *turns pale and darts for the bathroom*

Zane: *sighs* Looks like she has the stomach flu... or food poisoning... Whatever.

Die: *comes out* If you review, I will reward you with a hug from Magician's Valkyria!

Zane: *sighs again* And if we're lucky, they'll have healing power to distract her from this...

Die: Shut up, Zane! *hits him upside the head* No one ask yo- *runs to the bathroom again*

Zane: ... Until next time, readers. *walks off*


	21. E27&28: A Cause Worth Fighting

Gold and Silver

Okay, I know this chapter is really short, but the truth is… the Shadow Rider arc is about to start and boost the word counts, and besides, the last chapter was exceptionally long anyway. Furthermore, these two episodes have none of the main characters except for Jaden, which does jack shit for my pairings. As a result, I'm gonna let it alone more or less and build up the next chapter! In the meantime, thank the two anonymous reviewers for kicking my ass into finally getting around to this update instead of working on my new Pandora Hearts fic Miscalculation!

Please also read the companion story **Black and Red** and the oneshots that go along with this!

* * *

><p>I didn't use anyone's transcribing. Yay.<p>

This is the translation of the Japanese titles for Episodes 27 and 28. The English-dub instead uses "Grave Risk, Part One" and "Grave Risk, Part Two", but my own title for this chapter is "A Cause Worth Fighting".

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. I wish I did though...

* * *

><p>Chapter 2728: An Extra-Curricular Class is a Shadow Duel! (Part One) and An Extra-Curricular Class is a Shadow Duel! (Part Two), or "A Cause Worth Fighting"

Kieran sighed, leaning his head back against the cool metal of one of the servers behind him, his emerald eyes falling shut with exasperation. At the feeling of a nudge at his side, he turned his head and looked at the concerned gaze of his duel spirit. "I'm fine, Valkyria," he assured her in a soft voice, "just a little tired is all."

She didn't look convinced but didn't push it, figuring it wasn't her place to delve into feelings he was being prickly about. Instead, she silently sunk to her own bottom on the floor, her legs folding beneath her as she rested the curve of her back against the server across from her wielder. **Did you hear about the field trip Professor Banner was offering to his students today? **she asked after a long moment of sitting without acknowledgement from him.

"Yeah," he answered softly. "Sounds a little fishy to me, but it's not my place to confront him on it, not in my state."

For a long moment, quiet reigned in the room before the lightest scratching of a pen over parchment broke the silence. **I am sorry.**

"Sorry?" he echoed confusedly, brow furrowed. "For what?"

**I have gotten you into so much trouble, and I can never forgive myself for that. **The duel spirit looked genuinely down, her blue eyes deep with sorrow.

"It's not your fault!" Kieran insisted, getting to his feet. "It's not your fault and never will be! You can't control what I face, and that's that! Besides, I'd have been lost without you!"

The girl stared at him with wide, shocked eyes before her face slunk into a soft smile. **Thank you, Kieran. You always know what to say to make me remember why I chose you as my partner over all the duelists in the world.**

"You're welcome," he replied, reaching down to rest her hand over her shoulder, careful not to let it go straight through the spirit. "I'm not about to let you go without a fight, not even to yourself."

She closed her eyes, her head dropping to the side to rest against his hand. **What is Zane doing today? I had assumed he would want to be here with you, but I have not seen him all day.**

"Well-" Kieran began, but he got cut off by a sharp slamming sound like a cage door. "What was that?" he asked, his brow furrowing as he tensed.

Magician's Valkyria looked as if she was panicking. **You need to get out of here, Kieran.**

"It's much too late for that, Valkyria, Kieran."

The two looked up at their interloper, both recognizing the cruel voice. "Nightshroud," the Salem growled, "what are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" the man chuckled, smirking, "or have you forgot our unfinished business?"

It was then that the blond realized that he had a Duel Disk activated and on his arm as he stared down a Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon with the only thing protecting him being a Silent Magician Level Four and a Pitch-Black Power Stone. Shit… he knew where this was from, and right now, he was currently losing.

"Draw!" he murmured, taking the card. "Now during my Standby phase, Silent Magician's effect activates. Provided he has five counters on him, I can tribute him to Special Summon Silent Magician Level Eight!" The boy closed his eyes, the sparkles around him growing in brightness until he was completely obscured before it shattered outwards spectacularly, revealing that he had grown a good deal older. "Now I'll place one card facedown and end my turn."

Nightshroud drew. "I summon Troop Dragon in attack mode," he stated, letting the dragon appear. "Now, Red-Eyes Darkness, attack Silent Magician!"

"I activate my trap card, Negate Attack!" Kieran cried, flipping the card up. "This card prevents your attack and ends the battle phase."

"Tch," the masked brunet stated, "I'll place one card facedown and end my turn."

Kieran drew and let out a sigh of relief at the card. _Thank the gods, I was beginning to think I'd lose. _"I activate the spell card Swords of Revealing Light! Now your monsters can't attack for the next three turns!" Large white swords appeared out of thin air, spinning before they stabbed themselves down, pinning the two dragons to the ground.

"I chain my trap card, Nightmare Wheel!" Nightshroud declared, flipping the card face up. "In return for equipping it to your Silent Magician, he can no longer attack." He then drew, seeing how Kieran made a motion to pass the rest of his turn now that he couldn't destroy Troop Dragon. "I place one card facedown and end my turn."

Kieran drew, wincing. _Not what I needed… _he thought to himself in despair. "I pass my turn."

"Good," Nightshroud purred, drawing as a harsh whirring caught his opponent's attention. The dark wheel constricting his monster's limbs… was spinning? "What the hell is this?" he yelled, a little disturbed by the strange sounds it was emitting.

"My Nightmare Wheel's effect," the dark brunet enlightened him, smirking. "During each of my Standby phases, you take 500 points of damage from it." Kieran winced as his Life Points dropped to 1100 but said nothing. "Since I can't attack, I'll tribute Troop Dragon to summon Different Dimension Dragon, which also boosts my Darkness Dragon to 3900 attack points. Turn end."

Kieran drew. _Well that bought me some time… but how long?_ "I summon Invitation to a Dark Sleep in defense mode!" he cried. "Now, due to its special effect, I can choose one monster on your side of the field and prevent it from attacking, and I choose your Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon!"

"I suppose that would be all you can do to survive," the dark brunet stated as he drew a card and the blond's Life Points dropped to 600. "Pathetic. Still, since I still can't attack this turn, I'll just place Different Dimension Dragon in defense mode and end my turn." The white swords disappeared then, marking the end of the spell card and open-season on the Magician duelist.

"Draw," Kieran murmured softly. _This is it… as much as I hate to do it, I have no choice._ "I activate the spell card Magical Dimension! Now at the cost of a Spellcaster-type monster from my field, I can destroy one of your monsters and Special Summon one Spellcaster-type monster from my hand. So, Invitation, destroy Darkness Dragon and bring forth the all-powerful Dark Magician of Chaos!" The puppeteer floated up, perching lightly on the strange sarcophagus-like thing that had appeared before its strings, already wrapped around the black dragon's maw to hold it shut and keep it docilely fettered to the ground, jerked to yank the creature forward until it shattered into a million little pieces along with the controller before the pieces flew together to make a form the Salem knew well. "That's not all though. I'm going to Summon Hannibal Necromancer to the field to clean out your Life Points with an attack!"

"Not so fast!" Nightshroud cried. "By Summoning a monster, you activated my trap, Torrential Tribute! Now both our fields are wiped clean of monsters!"

"Damn," the blond stated lowly, "I guess there's no choice. I place one card face down and end my turn."

"Very well. Draw!" Nightshroud grabbed his card then smirked. "I summon out Red-Eyes Wyvern in attack mode!" he cried, letting the brown-black creature take the field. "Now, Wyvern, end this!"

"Not so fast!" Kieran yelled. "My trap Negate Attack ends the Battle Phase and intercepts your attack!" _If I can just live another turn, I can win this…_

"Heh, all right." The dark brunet didn't seem the least bit perturbed by this. "I now activate the effect of my Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon. By removing from play my Wyvern, I can Special Summon him to the field, and then since it's my Main Phase, I can Special Summon one Dragon-type monster from my hand or Graveyard. Come back, Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"

"Like it does you any good!" the blond retorted. "My Negate Attack still keeps you from touching me, Nightshroud!"

The masked man smirked. "Who said I needed to? I activate the spell card Inferno Fire Blast!"

"No!" Kieran cried, taking a hit from the black dragon and falling to his knees. "No," he whispered again, as if in denial, before he collapsed, his form flickering into the purple shadows.

"Good riddance," Nightshroud huffed, turning his back on the dueling arena and walking away with a confident swagger in his step. He had done what he had gone there to do and that was it.

* * *

><p>... I am just not into this today... just do the reward and end this.<p>

Zane: Those who review will get the chance to duel Nightshroud!

Yay Nightshroud! *ends chapter then out of sheer boredom*


	22. I'M SORRY, I'M A BAD PERSON!

Hello everyone! To those who expected this to be an update on Colors, I'm sorry. I'm not sure when or even if the next chapter will come out. I started writing this... I don't even remember when, but I was in such a different place since then. A lot has changed.

I started writing this back when my parents were just beginning proceedings to get divorced. Since then, the divorce has been getting dragged out by my father, who I am no longer in contact with, and slowly my mom is being forced towards bankruptcy. I am probably going to be forced to testify in court about everything he has done - which ranges from not allowing me to have a proper birthday to cancelling health insurance for my mother and making it nigh impossible for me to have it since I technically have it but can only access it if he's there, which he'll only be there if I interact with him. Since my mother and my little brother aren't really in a position to handle this well - he lives in denial and my mother leans on me heavily - I have to try to be strong for the both of them. My father has more or less bailed on me, and I have to stay here and pick up the pieces he left of my life.

Because of the divorce, almost all of my friends are avoiding me since the instant I start trying to tell them about some of what I am going through, they don't want to hear it. Of the friends who have really stuck by me, they all happen to be in positions where they can't really offer me all the support I need right now. As if that weren't enough, I was really close with my grandmother and uncle on my father's side, and since the divorce proceedings started, I have had no contact with any of my family on his side. And, to top that off, I have been forced to face the fact that I am bisexual even though I have suspected it for years, but I have yet to come out to any of my old friends or my family since I don't want to be pushed away any more than I already am.

Because of the divorce, my full attention hasn't been on my studies, and it really took a toll. I took a college class last school year along with a set of very challenging classes. My math class was supposedly the hardest one you'll ever take, and I ended up almost failing out of it since I had been caught up in all the drama in my own life and had a horrible teacher, especially considering that my previous math teacher had been FANTASTIC. A lot of my schoolwork got pushed aside and I did next to no studying; I didn't even really get much writing done outside of what I was forced to do for school and for a few friends. I struggled in a Creative Writing class that the teacher treated more as a sales experiment, mainly because I was living in a rich town and dealing with dwindling resources. And yet, despite all this, I'm freaking out because I feel like I need to take a job on next school year to help around the house even though I don't have a car or know how to drive since my father was supposed to teach me but instead bailed.

Because of the divorce, I have had a massive relapse. This time two years ago, I was borderline suicidal and heavily depressed. I didn't cut myself since I was unable to really stand pain, but I still would drag my nail across my wrist every now and again when things got bad. The only reason I never actually tried suicide was really because I was too much of a coward to risk taking pills and we didn't have a gun in the house. I had put that aside when things were starting to look up around the house, and even managed to be a deal happier once my father moved out almost a year ago. In recent months, however, with all the stress put on me and the general pessimistic outlook my mom has taken to life and burdened me with often, I sometimes end up thinking about it again, and every time it makes me cry horribly. I don't even really have anyone to talk to about it since I can't stress my mom out any more and none of my friends are really there for me anymore. Yes, I'm aware there's help for this, but right now, I just can't afford to slip up and let my mom see how much this is affecting me since the few times she saw early on what it was doing, she ended up crying.

It's for all of these reasons that I have not really been able to post earlier. It is for these reasons that I don't think I can add another chapter anytime soon, if ever, despite the fact that I am on summer break. As if I didn't have enough on my plate, one of my few close friends made plans with me to start a Yu-Gi-Oh! RP site, and then ended up bailing on me after the site was up, leaving me the sole staff member at the moment and hopelessly overwhelmed with the work to deal with it. As a matter of fact, I am putting off dealing with it just to type this up since I feel those of you who have faithfully followed this story deserve an explanation. If you would like to adopt these stories, you're welcome to PM me (I might take a while to respond though with the site taking so much of my time lately) or if you're so insistent upon having me finish it, I can come back to it once the site isn't so overwhelming and try to finish it out at least through season 1, which is already robbing it of the entire second season I had planned upon going into as well.

Like I said, I'm so very sorry about having to put this on hiatus or discontinue it, but life has interfered and I just can't pick this back up again.

Black Die.


End file.
